Companies around the Yukon are doing something rarely associated with spamming: asking your permission.

New federal legislation that requires businesses to obtain customers’ consent before blasting them with emails has local companies reading the fine print and adjusting their tactics.

“We sent out an email to all our customers on our subscription lists asking them to opt in to any further contact,” Eric Clement, a spokesperson for Northwestel, said this morning.

“Basically under that legislation, if you don’t opt in then a company doesn’t have permission to contact you any further.”

The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, effective as of July 1, targets all “commercial electronic messages” — emails, text messages, phone calls — but aims especially to lighten the nation’s inboxes.

On top of “express consent,” the new law also demands that businesses include an “unsubscribe mechanism” and contact information identifying the company behind the spam — unsolicited messages sent out en masse as a means of advertising or engaging existing customers.

The unsubscribe mechanism often comprises a hyperlink where users can remove themselves from customer lists. A button in the email can also allow users to click their consent to more messages.

Northwestel sent out an email June 25 to thousands of customers with the request: “If you would like to continue receiving communications from Northwestel, please confirm your consent by clicking the link below.”

B.C.’s Association of Mineral Exploration emailed: “Currently, we have your implied consent....We would also appreciate you giving us your express consent.

“Please reply to this message adding ‘I agree’ to the subject line....”

Some bulk messengers remain unaffected by the legislation.

“We don’t send unsolicited emails to our customers,” said ATCO Electric Yukon spokesperson Laura Carlson.

“We don’t use email at all to solicit customers. We don’t collect customer information either.”

Carlson noted the private utility formerly know as Yukon Electrical sends bills electronically only to customers who request it. Since the step is taken “proactively” by the client, the messages are not covered under the new legislation.

Commercial electronic messages have a broad definition. “A key question to ask yourself is the following.... Is one of the purposes to encourage the recipient to participate in commercial activity?” the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s website advises mass messengers.

The country’s telecom regulator will be administering the new law.

Exempted from the restrictions are charities, political parties and candidates seeking donations. If a mass message is unrelated to commercial transactions or business, the messengers are likely unaffected by the legislation.

The requirement for express consent marks a significant shift from current practice, where businesses often fall back on “implied consent” to collect personal information.

Collection — and possible reselling — of information often goes on without Internet users’ knowledge, with conditions tucked away in email fine print.

Some businesses have depended on these tactics — until now, when they are being forced to seek consent clearly and directly from users.

Harvesting — the collection of email addresses through computer programs without consent — is now banned.

If a commercial electronic message directs a user to a different site or results in software installation without their consent, the sender is also in violation of the law.

Fines range from up to $1 million for individuals to a whopping $10 million for companies that breach the law.

Company directors can also be held personally liable for damages.

Three years from now, anyone will be able to sue a company for spewing unsolicited commercial electronic messages.

The law’s “private right of action” provisions come into effect July 1, 2017.