“I have bought a contact database”
Can I approach contacts from a purchased database
Answer
No
Under § 116(3) of Act 452/2021 Coll. you need prior demonstrable consent before making the approach, and under § 116(5) the person to whom the consent was given has to keep the medium on which it is recorded. With a purchased list you do not have that record, and under § 116(4) you are not allowed to ask for it by email or by phone either.
Not lawful in this form. The page names what you can do instead.
A purchased database looks like a shortcut to your first customers, and it is one of the few things in marketing where the answer really is short. The problem is not where the list came from, but what you can evidence about it.
The act does not work with the notion of a 'lawfully obtained database'. It works with the consent of a specific recipient, which existed before you wrote to them and which you can demonstrate. The seller of the list can tell you anything; you are the one who has to prove it.
What will not save the situation
- 01
The seller's declaration is no substitute for a record of consent
§ 116(5) places the duty to keep a durable medium with the recorded consent on the person to whom the consent was given. An invoice for the database and a supplier's declaration are not a record that a specific person consented to being approached by you.
- 02
Writing to ask does not help
That is exactly the route closed off by § 116(4): to obtain prior consent, calling and the use of electronic mail, SMS and MMS are prohibited. A message along the lines of 'reply if you are not interested' is already an approach without consent.
- 03
It makes no difference that it is a single message
§ 116(2) defines direct marketing as any form of presentation of goods or services sent directly to a subscriber or user. The number of messages does not appear in the definition.
Where we will not answer for you
The wording of § 116 does not say expressly whether consent given to a third party can also cover an approach from you. This page therefore does not claim that it is never possible; it claims that a commonly sold list will not put you in the position required by § 116(5), because you hold no record of a specific person's consent given to you. If a supplier tells you such a record exists for every contact, that is a question for a lawyer and for a written contract, not for trust.
What you can do instead
Content that asks for the address itself
The approach that meets the condition is the opposite of a purchased list: first you publish something that makes a person give you their address, and only then do you write. Consent thus arises before the approach, which is exactly what § 116(3) requires.
Channels that are not direct marketing under § 116(2)
Search and social media advertising, content on your website and referrals are not sent directly to a single subscriber, so the prior consent condition in § 116(3) does not reach them. How a particular format is assessed depends on the way it is delivered.
Approaches outside electronic mail
§ 116(3) names automated calling systems, fax, electronic mail, SMS and MMS. Postal mail and approaching someone in person are not in that list, which does not mean they are free of rules, only that they are not governed by this provision.
What the statute says
Wording taken from the official register. Every excerpt is machine-compared against the statutes in our database, so it cannot drift from what the law actually says.
Na účely priameho marketingu je dovolené používanie automatických volacích a komunikačných systémov bez ľudského zásahu, telefaxu, elektronickej pošty, služby SMS a služby MMS voči účastníkovi alebo užívateľovi len s jeho predchádzajúcim preukázateľným súhlasom získaným pred kontaktovaním účastníka alebo užívateľa.Na účely získania predchádzajúceho súhlasu je zakázané volanie, používanie automatických volacích a komunikačných systémov bez ľudského zásahu, telefaxu, elektronickej pošty, služby SMS a služby MMS.Za preukázateľný súhlas na účely tohto zákona podľa odseku 3 sa považuje súhlas spĺňajúci náležitosti podľa osobitného predpisu; osoba, ktorej bol takýto súhlas udelený, je povinná uchovávať trvanlivé médium, na ktorom je zaznamenaný preukázateľný súhlas účastníka alebo užívateľa, po dobu najmenej štyroch rokov od odvolania súhlasu účastníkom alebo užívateľom podľa odseku 6.Frequently asked questions
The seller says every contact consented to third-party marketing.
What matters is what you can evidence. § 116(5) places the duty to keep the medium with the recorded consent on the person to whom the consent was given. If you do not hold such a record for every contact, you do not meet the condition, whatever the supplier's declaration says.
Can I send them one message asking whether I may write to them?
No, that is exactly what § 116(4) prohibits. It bars the use of calling, electronic mail, SMS and MMS for the purpose of obtaining prior consent.
What if I sent them a useful article instead of an offer?
§ 116(2) defines direct marketing as any form of presentation of goods or services sent directly to a subscriber, including obtaining information about goods and services. What decides is the purpose and the manner of delivery, not what the message is called.