Uscreen provides tools for adding users in bulk to your account that may be procured from outside sources such as a legacy mailing list on another system, a migration from an existing CRM or even a physical signup.
Whatever the source of the list may be, Admins must adhere to our Email Import Policy; outlined below. This applies to both single and bulk additions of users to your account.
Permission to Contact
Having access to a list of users and having permission to contact those users are very different. When adding users to your Uscreen site, you must have permission to email them.
If you do not have proven permission to email your contacts, you are sending spam. This is a violation of the Uscreen Terms of Service, may violate state or federal laws* and likely to negatively impact your email deliverability to legitimate users.
Explicit Consent means that the end user has actively checked a box to allow themselves to be contact. A checkbox that is prechecked or a line of text that says “we may contact you” is implicit consent.
Proven Permission means that you can provide evidence that the end user provided their email, their explicit consent and were aware that they would be emailed by doing so.
*Depending on where you or the recipient live this may violate the CAN-SPAM Act (US), GDPR (EU) or CASL (Canada), just to name a few.
How to tell if you have proven permission
Below you will find a few examples of proven permission based email lists. When in doubt, contact Uscreen for clarification. Remember, explicit consent to be contacted is the best case scenario.
Users signed up on my mailing list or store
Users signed up on my mailing list or store
YES. If your users signed up through a mechanism that was for your content and they provided consent in doing so, you have permission.
Users purchased from my store
Users purchased from my store
MAYBE. Purchasing from a store does not always involve providing explicit consent to be contact. Review your purchase flow and make sure that when users purchase there is clear messaging that they provide consent to be contacted later. Remember, explicit consent should involve an action taken on the part of the user such as checking a box to acknowledge their consent. If they have done so, you have their permission.
I found a list from a different project I ran
I found a list from a different project I ran
MAYBE. Make sure you are emailing users about the content that they signed up for and not a new project. For instance, if you had a mailing list for your photography and then decided to start a yoga studio, your users may mark you as spam because they did not agree to be contacted about the new endeavor.
You may proceed with caution. Ideally when you contact these users, you would remind them of your prior relationship and ask for their permission to stay on the list.
These users signed up several years ago and I’m just now adding them
These users signed up several years ago and I’m just now adding them
MAYBE. Remember that consent has a shelf life. If you legitimately collected emails several years and you are just now contacting them, they likely have forgotten about the consent.
As above, you may proceed with caution. Ideally when you contact these users, you would remind them of your prior relationship and ask for their permission to stay on the list.
I purchased an email list from a list broker
I purchased an email list from a list broker
NO. No matter how legitimate the list broker appears to be, buying or renting emails without the end users specific consent does not result in permission to contact. You may not import these users.
This also applies to industry-specific lists such as radio stations or press contacts. If a purchase was involved in the procurement of the list, you do not have permission.
I gathered these emails from listings on public websites
I gathered these emails from listings on public websites
NO. Posting your email address on a website does not give explicit permission to be contacted on a mailing list. While it is publicly available, it is not the same as consent. You do not have permission to contact these users.
I sponsored a booth at show and they provided me with emails
I sponsored a booth at show and they provided me with emails
NO. Unless the booth was very explicit about third party sponsors contacting them, the user is unlikely to be aware that they will be contacted from such a list. You do not have permission to contact.
I ran a booth at a show and collected emails
I ran a booth at a show and collected emails
YES! Interested parties who directly gave you their email address have consented to being contacted. As this is a 1:1 relationship, you have permission to contact.
An existing member referred someone to me
An existing member referred someone to me
NO. Being provided an email or a list of emails from an existing member is not sufficient consent. While the referral may have explicit interest in your content, you do not have explicit consent. You may not contact this user.
The user contacted me through my website
The user contacted me through my website
NO. A user contacting you does not provide explicit consent to be contacted later. You do not have permission in this scenario.
I got the list from my Facebook, Snapchat, Whats App, (etc) Group
I got the list from my Facebook, Snapchat, Whats App, (etc) Group
NO. These users may have explicit interest in what you are doing but they have not given explicit consent. In this case, you do not have permission to contact.
The user purchased from my Etsy or eBay store (or similar)
The user purchased from my Etsy or eBay store (or similar)
NO. Purchasing from an individual on a platform such as Ebay or Etsy does not provide consent for emailing. These platforms do not allow customization of the checkout experience, so these users have not given explicit consent to be contact. You do not have permission to contact them.
I ran a contest and these are all the entrants
I ran a contest and these are all the entrants
MAYBE. If your contest form explicitly stated that you may contact the users later, then you have consent. However, if your contest form was not abundantly clear that by submitting their email in the contest they would be signed up for a list, you do not have their consent and you do not have permission to contact them.
The above list does not cover all scenarios. When in doubt, contact Uscreen for clarification.