AM-0102-16

SECTION: General Operational Polices

ADMINISTRATION
MANUAL
SUBJECT: Anti-Spam Policy

Summary Electronic messaging is an important and integral part of the LCBO’s

business. The LCBO utilizes electronic messages to communicate with
current and prospective customers, suppliers and other business and
government parties.

Effective July 1, 2014, commercial electronic messages sent by the LCBO

and its employees are subject to the federal government’s “anti-spam law”
that imposes restrictions on the sending of those messages.

This anti- spam law prohibits the sending of unsolicited commercial

electronic messages without the express prior consent of the recipient
except in certain circumstances. It also sets out required content for
commercial electronic messages and requires each message allow the
recipient to unsubscribe from receiving further messages.

This policy outlines the LCBO’s requirements for commercial electronic

messages sent by or on behalf of the LCBO in compliance with the anti-
spam law.

Application This policy applies to all LCBO employees and any person who sends a
commercial electronic message on behalf of the LCBO.

Definitions “CASL” means Canada’s anti-spam legislation (S. C. 2010, c. 23) in

effect as of July 1, 2014. The legislation can be found at
http://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-1.6/index.html.

A “commercial electronic message” is any electronic message (e.g.,

email or text) that encourages the recipient to engage in a commercial
activity with or do business with the LCBO (i.e.; the promotion,
advertising, marketing of LCBO stores, products, services or events)

Note that:

 The content of the message, as well as the hyperlinks in the

message to content on a website or other database, are relevant
in determining whether an electronic message has a commercial
purpose.

 An electronic message that contains a request for consent to send

commercial electronic messages is also considered to be a
commercial electronic message.

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 Surveys and newsletters that do not encourage participation in a

commercial activity are not considered commercial electronic
messages.

 A message that provides an existing customer with additional

information, clarification or completes a previous transaction is
not considered a commercial electronic message – so long as
it doesn’t encourage further business.

 A message sent solely to recruit an individual for employment is

not a “commercial” message.

A “recipient” means the holder of the account associated with the

electronic address to which the message is sent, as well as any person
who it is reasonable to believe is or might be authorized by the account
holder to use the electronic address.

LCBO Commercial Commercial electronic messages concerning LCBO products, services,

Electronic Messages stores or events sent by LCBO employees to customers or potential cus-
tomers must be sent through LCBO email accounts only in compliance
with this policy. Employees must not use personal email accounts or cell
phones to send commercial electronic messages.

Messages Subject to this Not all messages sent by LCBO employees are subject to CASL or this
Policy policy. Before sending a commercial electronic message, LCBO
personnel must determine whether the message is subject to this policy,
and if so, must fully comply with the authorization and content
requirements of this policy.

Note that most commercial electronic messages sent to a customer or

potential customer will be subject to this policy.

Excluded Messages Each commercial electronic message is subject to this policy unless it is
one of the following types of message:

• an interactive two-way voice communication between individu-

als;

• a facsimile message to a telephone account;

• a voice recording sent to a telephone account (e.g., a voicemail

message);

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ADMINISTRATION SUBJECT: Anti-Spam Policy
MANUAL

• broadcast messaging, including tweets and social media posts;

• a message that is solely an inquiry or application related to a

commercial activity in which the recipient is engaged;

• the message is a reply to a request, inquiry, or complaint from

the recipient ;

• a message sent within the LCBO concerning LCBO activities;

• a “business to business” communication where the LCBO has

an existing relationship with that business organization and the
message concerns the activities of the business;

• the message concerns legal rights or obligations or law en-

forcement;

• the sender has a personal relationship with the recipient and

was in prior direct, voluntary, two-way communications with the
recipient and it is reasonable to conclude that the relationship
is a non-business relationship; or

• the sender has a family relationship with the recipient (i.e., they
are related through a marriage, common-law partnership or
any legal parent-child relationship) and was in prior direct, vol-
untary, two-way communication with the recipient.

To help determine whether a message is subject to this policy, see the

flowchart “Does the Anti-Spam Policy Apply to your Message?”

General Requirements Any commercial electronic message that is subject to this policy must
for Messages Subject to only be sent if:
Policy
• the LCBO has the consent of the recipient (pursuant to this
policy) or another authorized basis under this policy, to send
the message;

• the message includes the content required by this policy;

• the message includes an easy to use unsubscribe mechanism

accessible via the message as required by this policy; and

• the recipient has not previously made an unsubscribe request.

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SECTION: General Operational Polices ADMINISTRATION
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SUBJECT: Anti-Spam Policy

Marketing and In order to comply with the requirements of CASL, all commercial
Promotional Messages electronic messages promoting, marketing or advertising LCBO
through SMI only products, services, stores or events sent to customers or potential cus-
tomers which are subject to this policy must be sent through the Sales
Marketing and Insights Division. Please contact CASLhelp@lcbo.com
for assistance.

Unless a message is an exempted message, divisions or departments

wishing to send commercial electronic messages promoting, market-
ing or advertising LCBO products, services, stores or events sent to
customers or potential customers must contact the Sales Marketing
and Insights Division at CASLhelp@lcbo.com.

Types of Consent The LCBO may only send commercial electronic messages (subject to
the other requirements of this policy) if it has the prior consent of the
recipient to do so. Consent may be:

 express (whether in writing, by electronic means or orally); or

 implied by the relationship between the LCBO and the recipi-
ent.

Generally, the LCBO will only send commercial electronic messages

where the recipient has provided an express consent to receive that
information. Exceptions are noted below under Implied Consent.

Employees must consult Legal Services prior to sending commercial

electronic messages if they wish to rely on implied consent.

Express Consent The onus is on the LCBO to show that it has obtained express consent
to send a commercial electronic message. For consent obtained by
electronic means, information about the date, time, purpose, and
manner of that consent must be recorded and retained for the consent
to be valid.

Requests for consent must not be subsumed in, or bundled with, other
requests for consent. Persons must be able to agree to the other
matters while having the option to refuse or grant their consent for
receiving commercial electronic messages.

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ADMINISTRATION SUBJECT: Anti-Spam Policy
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The legislation sets out certain requirements for obtaining proper ex-
press consent including, the purpose or purposes for which the con-
sent is being sought (i.e., to send unsolicited commercial electronic
messages). Please contact Legal Services for more information.

Implied Consent In certain situations, the recipient is considered to have provided

implied consent to receive an LCBO commercial electronic message.
They include:

 where the recipient has disclosed to the LCBO the electronic

address to which the message is sent without indicating a
wish not to receive unsolicited commercial electronic messag-
es at the electronic address, and the message is relevant to the
recipient’s business, role, functions or duties in a business or
official capacity (i.e. business card has been provided); and

 where the recipient has conspicuously published, or has

caused to be conspicuously published, the electronic address
to which the message is sent, the publication is not accompa-
nied by a statement that the recipient does not wish to receive
unsolicited commercial electronic messages at the electronic
address, and the message is relevant to the recipient’s busi-
ness, role, functions or duties in a business or official capacity
(i.e. industry or association membership list).

Some other situations involving existing business relationships are also

permitted and employees should consult Legal Services prior to send-
ing commercial electronic messages if they wish to rely on implied
consent.

Third-Party Lists or CASL does allow businesses to rely on a third party to obtain consent
Messages Sent by Third to send messages. The rules to comply are onerous and steps need to
Party be taken to ensure the recipients have consented. Please contact CAS-
Lhelp@lcbo.com if you wish to acquire a list of addresses from a third
party or if you wish to engage a third party to send messages on be-
half of the LCBO.

Other Authorized Basis If the LCBO does not have the express or implied consent of the
(Exceptions to the recipient, the LCBO may still send commercial electronic messages
Consent Requirement) (subject to the content and unsubscribe mechanism requirements of

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SUBJECT: Anti-Spam Policy

this policy) if the message or circumstances fall within an exception to

the consent requirement. Consent is not needed if:

 the message facilitates, completes or confirms a previously-

agreed commercial transaction between the recipient and the
LCBO;

 the message delivers a product, goods or a service, including

product updates or upgrades, that the recipient is entitled to
receive under the terms of a transaction that they have previ-
ously entered into with the LCBO;

 the message provides warranty information, product recall in-

formation or safety or security information about a product,
goods or a service that the recipient uses, has used or has
purchased;

 the message provides factual information about the ongoing

use / purchase by the recipient of a product, goods or a ser-
vice offered by the LCBO under a subscription, membership,
account, or similar relationship; or

 the message provides information directly related to a current

employment relationship or related benefit plan.

Please refer to the flowchart “Can the Commercial Electronic Message

be Sent?” to assist in determining if a message can be sent without
consent.

Content Required in Certain contact information must be set out clearly and prominently in
Commercial Electronic each commercial electronic message that is subject to this policy.
Messages
The message must include:

 the LCBO’s name;

 the LCBO’s mailing address; and
 either a telephone number providing access to an agent or a
voice messaging system, an email address or a web address
of the LCBO for contact.
If it is not practicable to include the above information in a commer-
cial electronic message, it may be posted on a webpage that is readi-
ly accessible by the recipient (at no cost to the recipient) by means of
a link that is clearly and prominently set out in the message.

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SECTION: General Operational Polices
ADMINISTRATION SUBJECT: Anti-Spam Policy
MANUAL

Unsubscribe Mechanism An unsubscribe mechanism must be set out clearly and prominently in
Required each commercial electronic message that is subject to this policy.

That unsubscribe mechanism must:

 enable the recipient to indicate, at no cost to them, they no

longer wish to receive any commercial electronic messages,
or any specified class of such messages, from the LCBO, using
the same electronic means by which the message was sent (or
if using those means is not practicable, any other electronic
means that will enable the person to indicate the wish); and

 specify an electronic address, or link to a webpage that can

be accessed through a web browser, to which the indication
may be sent.

The unsubscribe mechanism must be able to be readily performed by

the recipient. It must be accessible and useable without difficulty or
delay.

If an unsubscribe request is made using the unsubscribe mechanism,

the LCBO must give effect to that request without delay, and in any
event not later than 10 business days after the unsubscribe request
was made, and without any further action being required on the part
of the requesting person.

Installation of Computer CASL also prohibits, in the course of commercial activities:

Programs
 the installation of computer programs on another person's
computer system without the express consent of the owner or
an authorized user of that system;
 causing such a computer program to be installed without
such consent, or
 having installed such a computer program, causing it to
communicate with other electronic devices without such con-
sent.
Where we offer or allow computer program downloads (created by
or customized by the LCBO) for installation on computers, tablets,
smartphones, etc., it will be necessary to ensure we are complying
with these requirements. There are also requirements relating to
requests to remove or disable installed computer programs.

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SECTION: General Operational Polices ADMINISTRATION
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SUBJECT: Anti-Spam Policy

If you are involved in projects that involve installing computer pro-

grams on the devices of others in the course of commercial activi-
ties, please contact Legal Services for assistance.

Violations of CASL Violations of CASL are serious and can result in financial penalties /
fines of up to $1,000,000 per violation for individuals and
$10,000,000 per violation for corporations. In addition, officers and
directors may be personally liable if they directed, authorized, assented
to, or acquiesced or participated in a contravention.

Effective July 1, 2017, CASL will also allow persons to make claims
against the LCBO directly for violations of CASL. Affected parties can
claim actual damages and up to $200 for each violation, not to exceed
$1,000,000 for each day on which a breach occurred. It is possible
that a class action law suit against the LCBO could result if a number of
people claim damages.

Responses to Violations Any conduct prohibited by this policy, or failure to comply with
of this Policy this policy, may result in disciplinary action, up to and includ-
ing termination of employment

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