Can I use a P.O. box or a private mailbox instead of a street address?

Only if the sender has accurately registered it. A Post Office box qualifies when the sender has accurately registered it with the United States Postal Service, and a private mailbox qualifies when the sender has accurately registered it with a commercial mail receiving agency established under United States Postal Service regulations.

Whose address goes in an email that promotes several advertisers?

Each advertiser's, unless one of them qualifies as the single designated sender. When several persons' products, services, or websites are promoted in one message, each such person is deemed a sender. Only one person is deemed the sender if that person is identified in the "from" line as the sole sender and complies with 15 U.S.C. 7704(a)(5)(A) and the other listed provisions.

If a recipient has already consented to my emails, can I leave the address off?

No. The statute's prior-consent exception reaches only the advertisement identifier, not the address. It says subparagraph (A)(i) does not apply when the recipient has given prior affirmative consent, and the postal address requirement sits in a different subparagraph, (A)(iii).

Do FTC orders ask senders to show that their emails carried the address?

At least one does. The Verkada order required records sufficient to show, by campaign, how many commercial email messages included the sender's valid physical postal address and how many did not.

Lead GenerationLegal test

Physical postal address

Berkeley Robinson, Managing Attorney at Robinson Law Firm PLLC

Author

Berkeley Robinson, Esq.

Managing Attorney, Robinson Law Firm PLLC

Berkeley has served as the go-to counsel for many scaling businesses in a transactional and litigation management capacity. Before becoming an attorney, Berkeley grew sales teams, ran online marketing campaigns, and did everything else an entrepreneur does—and still does today as the founder of two online businesses.

Definition

In commercial email, a valid physical postal address is the sender's current street address, a Post Office box the sender has accurately registered with the United States Postal Service, or a private mailbox the sender has accurately registered with a commercial mail receiving agency that is established pursuant to United States Postal Service regulations. Source: 16 C.F.R. § 316.2

Key legal rules

Because a valid physical postal address is a required element of every commercial email, a sender has to supply it each time. The main rules are these:

It is unlawful for any person to initiate the transmission of any commercial electronic mail message to a protected computer unless the message provides, among other required items, a valid physical postal address of the sender. Source: 15 U.S.C. § 7704
The statute's prior-consent exception is written for subparagraph (A)(i), the advertisement identifier, and it does not mention the postal address requirement in subparagraph (A)(iii). Source: 15 U.S.C. § 7704
When more than one person's products, services, or Internet website are advertised or promoted in a single electronic mail message, each such person within the statutory definition is deemed a "sender," except that only one person is deemed the "sender" if that person is identified in the "from" line as the sole sender and is in compliance with 15 U.S.C. 7704(a)(5)(A), among other listed provisions. Source: 16 C.F.R. § 316.2

For the sake of space, this page lists only the primary rules related to this term that most businesses should follow. More may apply to your situation, and your unique facts affect how they apply.

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Why these rules exist

The address in a commercial email has to belong to the sender. Whether it is a street address, a Post Office box, or a private mailbox, the definition requires that the sender currently use it or have accurately registered it, so a recipient who mails there reaches the sender and not a stranger. Source: 16 C.F.R. § 316.2 CAN-SPAM reflects the same idea in its header rules: header information is “materially” false when altering or concealing it would make it harder to identify, locate, or respond to the person who initiated the message. Source: 15 U.S.C. § 7704

Enforcement examples

FTC v. Optin Global, Inc. (commercial email)

Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction

The stipulated judgment names Optin Global, Inc., Vision Media Limited Corp., Rick Yang, and Peonie Pui Ting Chen as the defendants. Source: Stipulation for Entry of Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (Optin Global, Inc., et al.) The judgment defined a valid physical postal address as a sender's current street address within the United States, a registered Post Office box, or a registered private mailbox at a commercial mail receiving agency. It also provided that if the Commission later promulgated a regulation defining the term, that regulation's definition would control. Source: Stipulation for Entry of Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (Optin Global, Inc., et al.)

Outcome. The judgment permanently restrained and enjoined the defendants, and those acting with them, from violating the CAN-SPAM Act by, among other things, initiating a commercial email that does not include the sender's valid physical postal address. Source: Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (Optin Global, Inc., et al.), § I

FTC v. Zachary A. Kinion (commercial email for mortgage and adult entertainment offers)

Zachary A. Kinion - Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief

According to the complaint, Kinion has initiated commercial email messages to protected computers since at least August 2004, and those messages marketed multiple goods or services, including mortgage opportunities and adult entertainment. Source: Zachary A. Kinion - Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief The complaint further alleged that in numerous instances those messages failed to include a valid physical postal address of the sender. Source: Zachary A. Kinion - Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief

Outcome. The complaint pleaded the missing address as its own count, Count IV, and alleged that the practice violates 15 U.S.C. § 7704(a)(5)(A)(iii). Source: Zachary A. Kinion - Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief, Count IV

United States v. Verkada Inc. (commercial email)

Verkada: Complaint for Permanent Injunction, etc.; Verkada: Signed Order for Permanent Injunction, FTC File No. 2123068

Count XI of the complaint alleged that Verkada, in numerous instances, initiated commercial electronic mail messages to protected computers that did not provide a valid physical postal address of Verkada. Source: Verkada: Complaint for Permanent Injunction, etc., Count XI

Outcome. The complaint alleged that this conduct violates Section 5(a)(5)(A)(iii) of the CAN-SPAM Act and Section 5(a) of the FTC Act. Source: Verkada: Complaint for Permanent Injunction, etc., Count XI The order in the matter then required Verkada to create records sufficient to show, by campaign, the number of commercial email messages that included the sender's valid physical postal address and the number that did not. Source: United States v. Verkada Inc., FTC File No. 2123068, Signed Order for Permanent Injunction, § XII

Exposure

A sender that leaves out the address risks being placed under a permanent injunction. The Optin Global final judgment permanently restrained and enjoined the defendants, along with their officers, agents, and others acting in concert with them who received actual notice, from violating the CAN-SPAM Act by, among other things, initiating commercial email of the kinds the judgment lists. Source: Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (Optin Global, Inc., et al.), § I One of those listed kinds is a commercial email that does not include the sender's valid physical postal address. Source: Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (Optin Global, Inc., et al.), § I

The same conduct can also be charged under the FTC Act, since the Verkada complaint alleged that the missing address violates both the CAN-SPAM provision and Section 5(a) of the FTC Act. Source: Verkada: Complaint for Permanent Injunction, etc., Count XI A company under order also takes on a continuing obligation. The Verkada order required it to create records for twenty years after entry of the order and to retain each record for five years, including records of how many messages did and did not carry the sender's valid physical postal address. Source: United States v. Verkada Inc., FTC File No. 2123068, Signed Order for Permanent Injunction, § XII

FAQs

1.16 CFR 316.2. 16 C.F.R. § 316.2
2.15 U.S.C. § 7704. 15 U.S.C. § 7704See also 15 U.S.C. § 7704. 15 U.S.C. § 7704
3.15 U.S.C. § 7704. 15 U.S.C. § 7704