What is the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation?
The new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) regulates the distribution of commercial electronic messages. The law takes effect on July 1, 2014. The law prevents the distribution of commercial messages sent through electronic means, such as email and text messages, without the consent of the recipient. It also requires that all electronic messages clearly identify the sender and include an unsubscribe method. General information on the CASL is available at fightspam.gc.ca.

What is a commercial electronic message?
An electronic message is defined as commercial if it encourages participation in a commercial activity. This definition covers emails sent by the Running Room to promote events, provided announcements, promotional offers, which we think, would be of interest to you, special offers and contests. If you would like to receive these emails, please provide your consent.

Are donation requests considered to be commercial electronic messages?
Messages that have as their primary purpose raising funds for registered charities (fundraising messages) are exempt from this legislation. Consent is not required from the recipient before these messages are sent.

What does the new legislation change?
The biggest change is that the Running Room requires consent to send electronic messages related to events, programs, special offers, contests and promotions. This mostly affects email but also applies to messages sent directly to users on social media (for example, a direct message on Twitter). Commercial messages delivered by mail or phones are not changed by the legislation.

Messages that have as their primary purpose raising funds for registered charities (fundraising messages) are exempt from this legislation. Consent is not required from the recipient before these messages are sent.

What counts as consent to receive commercial electronic messages?
The law contemplates two types of consent: express consent or implied consent.

Express consent means that someone has explicitly given consent to receive commercial messages from the Running Room. Express consent could be collected through an online form or it can be collected in person.

Implied consent is time limited and occurs if someone has a pre-established relationship with the Running Room. Running Room has a prior business relationship with its clinic members, race registrants, as they pay program entry fees. Non-business relationships exist with volunteers and donors.

Under the legislation, organizations have three years from July 1, 2014, during which they can assume implied consent for anyone with a prior relationship with that organization. After that time, implied consent expires two years from the date your relationship with the Running Room ends (for example, when a clinic finishes).

If someone does not provide consent, the Running Room may still send that person electronic messages that do not contain commercial content, for example purchase confirmation.

What do I agree to by providing consent?
You agree to receive messages from the Running Room that have commercial content. You can unsubscribe at any time from emails you no longer want to receive. Your consent will be recorded and stored to ensure that, going forward, we send commercial messages only to those individuals for whom we have consent. For most people, providing consent will mean that nothing changes to the emails you currently receive from the Running Room.

Will I continue to receive electronic messages from the Running Room if I do nothing?
You might continue to receive commercial emails if we have your implied consent. Implied consent exists if you have a pre-established relationship with the Running Room, such as taking clinics, attending a paid event, volunteering or making a donation. You can unsubscribe at any time from emails you no longer want to receive.

I unsubscribed to email from the Running Room. Why do I still keep getting messages?
Messages from the Running Room can come from several different sources: Races / Events, Run Club, training program Instructor weekly messages, to name just a few. Every email that the Running Room sends has an option to unsubscribe. However, unsubscribing from one email list may not remove you from every mailing list. The list below shows your preferences for receiving each of the different newsletters and emails we and our associate race directors provide. A checked box indicates that you wish to receive this type of newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive one of the following newsletters, please uncheck the box next to it to opt-out. If you decide to subscribe to a newsletter that you had previously not been receiving, you will receive an email with a confirmation link that you will need to click on in order to successfully opt-in.

Our Mailing List Options:
• Run Club / Clinics - Keep up to date with news from your favorite Running Room store.
• Sales and Promotions - Receive timely sales and promotional information.
• Race / Events - Allow race directors of races you have entered to keep you apprised of race information.
• Magazine Delivery - Receive the PDF version of our magazine in your Inbox

How can I control the communication I receive from the Running Room?
You can contact [email protected] to manage the communications sent to you by the Running Room.

Is consent collected under the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL) different from the consent collected under the Protection of Privacy Act (PIPA)?
The requirements and obligations for obtaining express consent under the CASL are separate and distinct obligations and differ from the requirements for obtaining consent under the PIPA Act. The CASL does not alter the Running Room's obligations under the PIPA Act.

For more information about the Running Room's obligations under FOIPP Act, please see www.runningroom.com/privacy