How to stop unwanted marketing emails and complain in the UK

Marketing emails can pile up quickly, and it is not always clear whether the sender is allowed to contact you. This article covers marketing emails only, not phishing. It explains what the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says about when organisations can email you, how to opt out and when to report the problem.

Everything here comes from one ICO page, listed at the end. The sources say little about some points, such as what happens after a report, and we say so where it matters.

When organisations may send you marketing emails

The ICO's answer is that organisations can send marketing emails, but only in the following circumstances.

When you opted in. This could be when you purchased, or negotiated to purchase, a product from them, used their services, or signed up to receive messages when visiting their website.

When you did not opt out (the soft opt-in). When organisations collect your details, they should give you a simple way to opt out of marketing. If you do not opt out, they may send marketing emails advertising similar products or services to the ones you bought, or negotiated to buy, in your contact with them.

When the marketing is from a charity. The ICO sets three conditions: the marketing is about the charity's charitable purposes; it responds to contact details you gave after expressing interest in those purposes or offering or providing support for them; and the charity gave you a simple way to refuse when you provided your details, and in each email after that. The ICO adds that if you gave your details while using a charity's service, it may not be appropriate for the charity to use the soft opt-in.

The soft opt-in does not apply to every kind of email. The ICO gives campaigning or fundraising by political parties as an example: without consent, a party cannot email you under the soft opt-in.

You can opt out, and they must stop

The ICO states that organisations, including charities, must stop sending you marketing emails when you opt out. It says this should usually happen quite easily. It also says strict rules apply to the content of marketing emails, and one of them is that each message must give you the chance to opt out again.

How to ask them to stop

The ICO recommends the following.

1. Follow the opt-out instructions in the email. This usually means clicking an unsubscribe link.
2. Be careful about replying if you do not recognise the sender. If you think the email is suspicious, you may be able to block it and report it to your email provider.
3. If there are no opt-out instructions, look on the organisation's website. Use the contact details there to say you want to opt out. The ICO's tip is that you can usually find a suitable email address in the organisation's privacy notice.

For charities, there is another option. The ICO describes the Fundraising Preference Service as a free service to help you manage marketing communications from charities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It lets you choose how charities contact you, or ask them not to contact you any more. You only need the charity's name and its registered charity number.

Marketing emails at your work address

The rules depend on your situation, according to the ICO.

• Sole traders and unincorporated partnerships. Your work email address is treated in the same way as your home one, so the advice above applies.
• Employees of a corporate body. The ICO defines this as a company, Scottish partnership, limited liability partnership or government body. Organisations may send marketing emails to your work address without your consent, unless your corporate email address identifies you. The ICO says you have rights under the Data Protection Act in that case, for example if the address contains your name. You can write to the organisation asking it to stop, and when it receives your request it must stop as soon as it can.

If the unwanted messages come from an organisation you know and trust, the ICO says you may use the unsubscribe option. It adds that the law does not require organisations to stop emailing a corporate address, but that many will do so as good practice when they receive an objection or opt-out.

When to report to the ICO

If you opted out and the messages continue, the ICO says you can consider reporting this through its complaint form. It points readers who want more detail to its guidance on the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. The page we used does not say how long the ICO takes to respond, or what outcome you can expect, so we do not state either.

How to receive less spam

The ICO's page lists these habits for avoiding spam emails.

• Be careful who you give your email address to.
• Consider having separate personal and business email addresses.
• Choose an email address that is difficult to guess.
• As best practice, do not share your email address, for example by putting it on the internet.
• Check privacy policies and marketing opt-outs before giving your email address or other personal information.
• Avoid responding to spam emails if you have any doubts about the sender. Replying shows that your email address is live.
• Do not click on the adverts in spam emails. Doing so also shows your address is live, and you may receive more emails.
• Use a spam email filter on your computer. These programs work with your email package to separate spam from wanted emails and block it.
• Keep your systems well maintained. The ICO says software updates and patches that fix known problems are generally available from manufacturers' websites and are usually free.
• Consider using anti-virus software.

Finding out where your address is visible

Because the ICO advises against putting your email address on the internet, it helps to know where it already appears. Remove Me offers a free analysis with no account needed. It searches publicly visible web results, known public data breaches and a register of data brokers, then shows a report, unlocked with a 6-digit code sent by email. Remove Me does not yet send erasure requests for you, so opting out and reporting remain steps you take yourself.