Data and digital operations · France and Switzerland : separate country-labelled rules
5 checks before sending a marketing email campaign
Email prospecting needs a channel-specific record of recipients, address provenance and the permission or relationship relied upon. France and Switzerland should not be treated as one marketing-consent regime. Separate business and individual contacts, existing customers and new prospects, then document the applicable conditions and opt-out. A telephone-marketing checklist does not establish whether an email campaign is lawful.
- Address provenance
- Recipient category
- Evidence supporting the basis
- Working opt-out
- Official texts cited
- Sources checked on
- Drafted with AI assistance, our method
General legal information with official references and dated checks. It is not personalised advice: for a decision that commits you, have your situation checked by a qualified professional.
Julie by AlphaDeep
Do business and consumer addresses follow one rule?
France's CPCE L34-5 and CNIL professional-outreach guidance require a category-specific check. Switzerland's LCD 3(1)(o) has its own mass-advertising conditions.
Read the referencesYour question concerns “5 checks before sending a marketing email campaign”. I can help organise the facts and records. Which document have you received or prepared, and is this a French or Swiss matter?
3 free questions at signup. Avoid names and sensitive information.
Where did the campaign addresses come from?
Keep collection source, date and notice. Buying a list does not itself establish permission to use its contents.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Which records are still missing from your file?
Indicate which records you have. The result identifies gaps and prepares a complete question for Julie, without requiring an account.
Fictional example · Your preparation
Point to complete: Working opt-out. Check sender identity, a usable opt-out and suppression before another send. France and Switzerland must each be assessed under their own provisions.
- Address provenance
- Record available
- Recipient category
- Record available
- Evidence supporting the basis
- Record available
- Working opt-out
- Needs checking
- Records indicated
- 3 / 4
- Can a recipient effectively stop future messages?
This worksheet organises records; it does not establish admissibility, entitlement or a procedural outcome.
Which preparation steps come first?
Editorial preparation order, not a popularity or success-probability ranking. Resolve undocumented list provenance before reviewing the message and opt-out.
Actual address provenance
Keep collection source, date and notice. Buying a list does not itself establish permission to use its contents.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Recipient category
France's CPCE L34-5 and CNIL professional-outreach guidance require a category-specific check. Switzerland's LCD 3(1)(o) has its own mass-advertising conditions.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Permission and evidence
Connect consent or the claimed customer relationship to each category. Existing-customer exceptions have conditions; an account or invoice alone does not settle every campaign.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Operational opt-out
Check sender identity, a usable opt-out and suppression before another send. France and Switzerland must each be assessed under their own provisions.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Suppression before sending
Compare audience, evidence, notice and suppression records. Test exclusions without sending advertising to someone who has objected.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Do business and consumer addresses follow one rule?
France's CPCE L34-5 and CNIL professional-outreach guidance require a category-specific check. Switzerland's LCD 3(1)(o) has its own mass-advertising conditions.
Which documents answer which questions?
| Record or information | Issue to check |
|---|---|
| Address provenance | Keep collection source, date and notice. Buying a list does not itself establish permission to use its contents. |
| Recipient category | France's CPCE L34-5 and CNIL professional-outreach guidance require a category-specific check. Switzerland's LCD 3(1)(o) has its own mass-advertising conditions. |
| Evidence supporting the basis | Connect consent or the claimed customer relationship to each category. Existing-customer exceptions have conditions; an account or invoice alone does not settle every campaign. |
| Working opt-out | Check sender identity, a usable opt-out and suppression before another send. France and Switzerland must each be assessed under their own provisions. |
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
What supports the permission relied upon?
Connect consent or the claimed customer relationship to each category. Existing-customer exceptions have conditions; an account or invoice alone does not settle every campaign.
Can a recipient effectively stop future messages?
Check sender identity, a usable opt-out and suppression before another send. France and Switzerland must each be assessed under their own provisions.
Does a purchased list remove compliance work?
No. A supplier's description does not prove collection conditions, the processing basis or the recipient's permission for this campaign.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Which official provision helps explain this situation?
Est interdite la prospection directe au moyen de système automatisé de communications électroniques au sens du 6° de l'article L. 32, d'un télécopieur ou de courriers électroniques utilisant les coordonnées d'une personne physique, abonné ou utilisateur, qui n'a pas exprimé préalablement son consentement à recevoir des prospections directes par ce moyen.
In plain English: France's CPCE L34-5 and CNIL professional-outreach guidance require a category-specific check. Switzerland's LCD 3(1)(o) has its own mass-advertising conditions.
Does marketing permission settle data protection?
France also requires the applicable GDPR basis and duties; Swiss LPD6 requires lawful, proportionate processing for its stated purpose. These are separate checks.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
What belongs in the pre-send test?
Compare audience, evidence, notice and suppression records. Test exclusions without sending advertising to someone who has objected.
What should the campaign record retain?
Link collection records, the actual message version and opt-out handling. The worksheet organises evidence and does not certify a lawful campaign.
What other questions arise in this file?
Do business and consumer addresses follow one rule?
France's CPCE L34-5 and CNIL professional-outreach guidance require a category-specific check. Switzerland's LCD 3(1)(o) has its own mass-advertising conditions.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Can a recipient effectively stop future messages?
Check sender identity, a usable opt-out and suppression before another send. France and Switzerland must each be assessed under their own provisions.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Does a purchased list remove compliance work?
No. A supplier's description does not prove collection conditions, the processing basis or the recipient's permission for this campaign.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
What belongs in the pre-send test?
Compare audience, evidence, notice and suppression records. Test exclusions without sending advertising to someone who has objected.
Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitement241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicites235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesCNIL : Prospection commerciale électronique
Which official references should you consult?
- Code des postes et communications électroniques art. L34-5Légifrance
- RGPD, article 6: Licéité du traitementSource officielle
- 241 : Art. 3 Méthodes déloyales de publicité et de vente et autres comportements illicitesFedlex
- 235.1 : Art. 6 PrincipesFedlex
- CNIL : Prospection commerciale électroniqueSource officielle
Texts cited last checked: 1 November 2026