Mutual of Omaha is committed to providing valuable and relevant email marketing communications based on our customers' needs. This is why we support only permission-based email marketing.
CAN–SPAM Act of 2003
At Mutual of Omaha, we are dedicated to business practices that are compliant with federal and state laws.
Due to the creation of federal statutes and regulations designed to prohibit unsolicited and/or deceptive marketing material from being distributed through electronic mail (i.e., the CAN – SPAM Act of 2003), we must ensure our employees, agents, and brokers adhere to certain guidelines when they send advertising through electronic mail.
“Commercial email” in this case, is defined as an electronic message whose primary purpose is to act as a commercial advertisement, by promoting a commercial product or service, or serving as an Invitation to Inquire about a product or service.
Essentially, the CAN – SPAM Act of 2003 makes it legal to send unsolicited commercial email, as long as it adheres to certain requirements.
Therefore, employees, agents, and brokers advertising Mutual of Omaha’s products, services or websites must ensure their commercial email contains the following:
- Subject lines that are not deceptive or misleading in regard to the content of the email
- A clear and conspicuous notice of the opportunity for the recipient to opt out of receiving commercial email
- A clear and conspicuous return email address that allows the recipient to opt out of receiving future promotional email
- A clear and conspicuous notice that the email is an advertisement or solicitation, unless the recipient of the email has already agreed to receive the email
- A valid physical postal address of the sender (i.e., Mutual of Omaha)
In addition, employees, agents and brokers are prohibited from:
- Knowingly sending unsolicited commercial email (following a grace period of 10 business days) to an individual who has opted out of receiving commercial email
- Using automated means to harvest email addresses from websites or online services that expressly prohibit sharing users’ email addresses
- Using automated means to create multiple email accounts for the purpose of sending unsolicited commercial email
- Illegally accessing inactive email or computer accounts for the purpose of sending unsolicited commercial email
However, email that communicates with customers about previously existing transactions or business relationships are exempt from most of the Act’s provisions, provided they do not contain false or misleading subject lines, return addresses or sender information. Common examples of communications that are exempt include:
- Explanation of Benefit forms
- Copies of policies
- Notices required by state and/or federal law
- Administrative notices
- Denials of precertification
Though existing policyholders may continue to receive emails regarding existing transactions or business relationships, existing policyholders who have opted out of receiving future promotional emails cannot receive email that contains any advertisements or solicitations.