Spam Act 2003

Consumer Educationand Awareness

About the ACA

• Independent government regulator• Ensures industry compliance with

legislation (Telecommunications Act 1997, Spam Act 2003) and with licence conditions, codes and standards

• Works with communications industry to achieve active self-regulation

• Monitors effect of regulations to ensure they meet community’s needs

• Consumer protection and education role

Fighting spam

• 1. Legislation• 2. Education (business and consumer)• 3. Industry partnerships• 4. Technological solutions• 5. International cooperation

The Australian Government’s five-part strategy:

Spam: background information• Spam is now over 60% of email traffic• Often carries viruses• Linked to crime (fraud and scam emails)• Offensive content• Threatening viability of email• Less than 2% of spam comes from

Australian sources

Spam Act 2003

• Took effect April 2004• ‘Unsolicited commercial electronic

messages’ must not be sent• Covers email, SMS (text messages),

MMS (multi-media messages) and iM (instant messaging)

• Does not cover faxes, telemarketing, pop-ups

• A single message can be spam

Spam Act 2003

• Consent (express or inferred);

• Identify; and

• Unsubscribe

All commercial electronic messages require:

+ No address-harvesting software or harvested lists

What is consent?Two types of consent: Express and Inferred• How can I give express consent?

– filling in a paper or web-based form– ticking a box– consenting in person or over the phone

• How can my consent be inferred?– strong existing business or other relationships– ‘conspicuous publication’ of a work-related electronic address (conditions apply)

When can my consent be inferred?1. Through a strong existing business or

other relationship- Must be a ‘reasonable expectation’ of receiving commercial messages from that source- Casual or one-off transactions not enough

2. When your work-related electronic address is ‘conspicuously published’

- E.g. on website, newspaper, phonebook- Message must relate directly to nature of your

work

Identify and Unsubscribe

As well as meeting the consent condition, all commercial electronic messages must include:

• Information that allows you to identify the organisation that authorised the message; and

• An unsubscribe facility so you can ‘opt out’ of future messages

- Must be easy to use, and at low or no cost to you- Requests must be honoured within 5 working days

Exemptions

Designated Commercial Electronic Messages

• Are exempt from the Act’s consent and unsubscribe conditions

• But must include accurate sender information• Designated messages include:

- Purely factual information- Certain messages from: charities; government; religious organisations; registered political parties; educational institutions (past and present students + their families)

Spam reduction tips

Protect your email address from spammers:

• Try not to reveal your address when online• Use different addresses for specific purposes• Protect your mobile phone number too• Read sign-up and privacy conditions carefully• If you have a website:- List a non-personal email address; and- Omit the @ symbol; or- Post the address as a image, not text

Spam reduction tips

Boost your internet security:• Use filtering software to reduce incoming

spam• Don’t be an ‘accidental spammer’: ensure

spammers can’t send spam through your computer or server. Protect yourself with…- Anti-virus software- Firewalls- Security patches- Long and random passwords- Treat attachments with caution

Unsubscribing from spam

Check the subject line to judge the risk…

• Legitimate Australian businesses:- Goods or services usually genuine- Safe to unsubscribe- Should honour request within 5 working days

• Professional spammers:- Dubious content: Viagra, porn, get-rich schemes

etc.- Risky to unsubscribe (tells spammer you exist!)- Best to delete message without opening it

Email scams and fraud

• Growing link between spam and crime• Remember: if an offer sounds too good to

be true… it probably is!• Protect your personal information online• Ignore emails touting ‘get-rich-quick’

schemes• Beware of phishing scams:

- Emails that pretend to be from your bank, asking you to click a link to the bank’s website and enter your account details and password. Don’t be fooled!

Reporting spam

You can report spam, or make a complaint about spam, through the ACMA’s website…

www.acma.gov.au/spamClick on: ‘Reporting spam’