Is cold email legal?

In most countries, a relevant business email to a work address, from a real sender who makes it easy to say no, is allowed. The details differ by country. Here is what the main rules say, with the official sources, and how SLSBMB AI sends.

Updated 2026-10-30 · Markdown

This page explains how SLSBMB AI operates and summarizes public guidance from regulators. It is not legal advice: you are the sender of your campaigns and responsible for their lawful use, as our Outbound Compliance Policy sets out.

Why business email is treated differently

Most countries separate mass advertising to private people from a business approach to a professional about their work. For the second, the rules are reasonable almost everywhere: an honest sender, a clear link between the offer and the person's job, an easy way to say no, and respect for that no.

A work address, a deliverability check, a useful offer and a privacy notice are four separate things, and none of them is consent to any marketing on its own. Together they make an approach that makes sense for the business and for the recipient. It also surprises many people that sales reps, recruiters and founders at almost every company write cold emails by hand every day: in law, an email sent by a machine is no different from the same email typed by a person.

What we build into every campaign

A real sender. A real person's name and company, on a domain that leads to the company's website.
Company details in every email. The footer with the company name and postal address is inserted automatically from the sender profile the client confirms at payment.
A one-click unsubscribe in every email, and permanent blocking of anyone who unsubscribes, complains, replies with hostility or hard-bounces, across every SLSBMB AI workspace.
Any reply stops the follow-ups to that person at once.
Business addresses only. No private inboxes, ever.
No contacts at companies based in Germany (see below).
Your exclusions travel with the task. Companies, domains or groups you name in the interview go into the brief, and every contact purchase respects them, without relying on anyone's memory.

Country by country

Country	What matters for B2B email	Official source
United States	CAN-SPAM covers B2B email: a truthful sender and subject line, a physical postal address, and a working opt-out honored promptly	FTC compliance guide
United Kingdom	PECR doesn't require consent to email corporate subscribers (companies, LLPs), but you must identify yourself and give a valid opt-out; sole traders and some partnerships need consent unless the soft opt-in applies; UK GDPR applies to named work addresses	ICO on business-to-business marketing
France and other EU countries	A professional offer can rely on legitimate interest when it relates to the person's job, the person is informed and can object; GDPR applies	CNIL on email prospecting
Canada	CASL requires consent, express or implied; implied consent can come from a conspicuously published business address with no refusal statement, when the message relates to the person's role	CRTC guidance
Australia	The Spam Act requires consent, clear sender identification and an unsubscribe; buying a list does not settle consent by itself	ACMA
Hong Kong	The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance governs sender information, content and opt-out	OFCA
Germany	Section 7 of the Unfair Competition Act requires prior express consent for advertising by email, including to business recipients, apart from a narrow existing-customer exception	UWG §7 — we don't send there

Why we don't send to Germany

German law requires prior express consent for advertising email even to businesses. Rather than trying to slip along the edge, we excluded companies headquartered in Germany from every new contact purchase, for every client. A company's headquarters and the place where a given employee sits can differ, so when a client has special requirements for other countries, we look at the specific situation.

Who is responsible for what

You set the real goal, the offer, the sender and the limits, and authorize the campaign. You are the sender, responsible for your offer, your choice of recipients and any legal basis or notice your countries require.
SLSBMB carries out the professional work you commission: research, writing, contacts, sending and reply handling, without a separate approval for each email. We are responsible for running the service and for our duties as your data processor under the Data Processing Terms.
Privacy notices. Where the law requires you to tell people how you got their data, our contact privacy guide and templates help you prepare that information.

What our rules don't allow

Our acceptable use rules allow professional approaches to work addresses. They forbid consumer marketing, getting around a refusal, deception, data you aren't allowed to use, and choosing people by sensitive personal traits. The service can't be used to decide whether someone gets credit, a job, insurance or housing: inviting a specialist to discuss a vacancy is fine; deciding their fate automatically is not. Legal industries aren't banned on taste; the choice of market stays with the client within the law and these rules.

Frequently asked questions

Is cold email legal in the US?

Yes, under CAN-SPAM, when the sender and subject line are truthful, the email carries a physical postal address and a working opt-out, and opt-outs are honored promptly. Every SLSBMB AI campaign email carries the sender's company details and a one-click unsubscribe automatically.

Is B2B cold email legal under GDPR?

GDPR doesn't ban it. In many EU countries, France for example, a business approach can rely on legitimate interest when the offer relates to the person's job and the person is informed and can object; national email rules still apply, and Germany requires prior consent. We act as your processor under our Data Processing Terms.

Why don't you email companies in Germany?

Because German law requires prior express consent for advertising email even to business recipients. We excluded companies based in Germany from every contact search and purchase rather than operate at the edge of that rule.

Who is responsible if someone complains?

You are the sender and answer for your offer and your choice of recipients. We answer for how the service works: unsubscribes, blocking and sending rules. A complaint blocks that address for good.