Have the "Unsubscribe" button at the bottom of campaign emails actually do something.

LegacyUser

Chris Grant said: Every Sunday morning, I receive an email from FamilySearch. Apparently, these are called "campaign notifications". At the bottom of the email is an "Unsubscribe" button. Clicking on that button takes me to a page headed "Unsubscribe Successful". In actuality, the unsubscribe is not successful. The emails keep coming.

The latest feedback I got from FamilySearch support (on Case 04856074) says: "Please be aware that there is no option to 'opt out' of receiving campaign notifications."

It seems to me that honesty demands one of two actions:

1. Remove the "Unsubscribe" button from campaign notifications.

2. Leave the "Unsubscribe" button there and make it work.

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: If a person makes enough noise about the campaign emails, they will be removed from receiving the emails. That has happened to me, mostly because of my complaints about the campaigns, their static nature, and how I consider them to be unwarranted spam.

Reopen the case and ask that it be escalated, otherwise, you will start reporting the emails as spam. If need be, do not be afraid to use https://www.spamcop.net/ to report the emails. You will need to capture the raw email to report it, but most mailers will allow you to do so. Your own email address will be "hidden" in the report that is sent to the sending address, but it will draw attention to the fact that you do not want to receive those campaign emails.

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: Some more information on this. Different countries have different rules regarding unsolicited email. In the United States, an act was passed by Congress, called the CAN-SPAM Act, which requires the Federal Trade Commission (of the United States) to issue regulations regarding e-mail.

In "A Compliance Guide for Business" (https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/busin...), commercial emails fall into one of three categories: 1) Commercial content; 2) Transactional or relationship content, and/or 3) Other content.

Generally speaking, commercial content is advertising a product or service.

Transactional content is an email regarding an already agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer about an ongoing transaction and is not subject to the CAN-SPAM rules. Such emails would include shipping notices regarding an order from an entity, such as Amazon.

Other content depends upon the thrust of the email message: the primary purpose of the message is commercial and the provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act apply if: * A recipient reasonably interpreting the subject line would likely conclude that the message advertises or promotes a commercial product or service; and * the primary purpose of the message is commercial and the provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act apply if: * A recipient reasonably interpreting the subject line would likely conclude that the message advertises or promotes a commercial product or service; and * A recipient reasonably interpreting the body of the message would likely conclude that the primary purpose of the message is to advertise or promote a product or service.
A recipient reasonably interpreting the body of the message would likely conclude that the primary purpose of the message is to advertise or promote a product or service. - emphasis mine. Email campaigns, in my non-professional opinion fall into this classification of being subject to the provisions of CAN-SPAM because they promote a service.

The rules established by the FTC have several requirements, including a valid working method of opting out of the service. It also requires that the physical address of the entity that is sending the e-mail provide a valid physical address.

Since I do not receive any such campaign emails, I do not know if they met the FTC requirements with respect to address, but one thing is certain, they must have a working (functional) opt-out address that a recipient can reply to, to opt-out of receiving future emails of that nature.

Since you've reported that the opt-out does not work, then the sending entity is out of compliance with the CAN-SPAM act. Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $41,484, so non-compliance can be costly. Following the law is relatively easy and detailed at https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/busin...

It is not up to the sending entity to define the content, but it is how the recipient of such content interprets the content. The combined Commercial and Transnational content emails are outlined as to how an email may be interpreted by the recipient.

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: By the way, money does not have to be involved. It is all about the intent of the email that is being received.

LegacyUser

David Newton said: If you're in the EU make a request that they stop processing your data for use in these email campaigns. If they don't comply drop them in it with your local data protection regulation authority.

LegacyUser

Dean Payne said: Chris, Tom, and David,

Thank you for communicating with us.

I am the Product Manager for Common Messaging at FamilySearch.

Our Engineers are looking at your incident. Some information was incorrectly given to you. Yes, you can unsubscribe from any e-mail notifications that come to you, including "Campaigns". We are reviewing why your experience is different from our testing. We have a little more leg work to do.

I'm sorry about this current situation. We will get back to you as soon as we have the facts and the best remedy identified.

Dean Payne
payne@familysearch.org

ianthrive

This is still a problem. Regardless of clicking on "Unsubscribe" at the bottom of every email I received, and my account saying "You are unsubscribed from all email messages", I continue to receive unwanted email every Sunday.