It probably comes as no surprise that most marketing and outreach you receive are tracked by the organizations who sent them.
This can include information such as when an email recipient opens a message, the device used to access it, the IP address of the user, and more.
A single piece of electronic communication can give any business a robust amount of identifying information.
But are email trackers even legal?
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the legalities of email trackers and what you need to know if you’re planning to track email on your own.
Let’s get started!
How Email Tracking Works
Email tracking software allows senders to easily track important information related to an email message, including any of the following:
- When an email was opened.
- How long it was open on the screen.
- What device and operating system you used to open it.
- The IP address and location from which the email was opened.
And much more.
This is primarily accomplished through the use of a tracking pixel or a web beacon (also known as a web bug). Tracking can also be done through Google Analytics and tracking links. These tools allow senders to confirm basic information about the email they sent as soon as the email is loaded.
Until relatively recently, you’d need to use a marketing automation platform like Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign in order to take advantage of this functionality.
The tracking tools provided by these platforms connect to your email service provider and send emails on your behalf and collect data upon email open.
For businesses, collecting details via email tracking isn’t necessarily nefarious. This information can help assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and understand user engagement with emails. The data can then be used to improve the user experience and future email distribution strategies.
However, today, email tracking is more personal. You can download free email tracking browser extensions that help you track emails for free when sending emails at a much smaller scale.
While you may not get as much information using these tools as you would from a traditional marketing platform, it’s still a significant change in who has access to email tracking tools and the information they provide.
Are Email Trackers Legal?
Email tracking software is legal in most countries, although there are some exceptions.
In the United States, email tracking is generally considered legal under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
However, there is some gray area here.
Strictly speaking, email trackers don’t track your email account. They’re tracking the email and how you interact with it. By clicking on or receiving the email, you’re automatically part of the system.
This allows most email tracking software providers to argue that their products are legal so long as recipients are made aware that their actions are being tracked.
On the other hand, email tracking may be considered an invasion of privacy, and it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of email tracking before using it.
What about GDPR and similar privacy laws?
Without a doubt, email tracking software has raised privacy concerns in the past, as it allows businesses to track and monitor sent emails in thousands or millions of households around the world.
Some countries and jurisdictions also have their own laws governing email tracking, so it’s important to check your local laws before using any email tracking software.
The Europe-based GDPR is a great example of one such law, but you’ll also need to be aware of laws and regulations like the CAN-SPAM Act, which impact email tracking even though it is designed primarily to curb email spam. Canada’s CASL Law is similar, requiring that consent be obtained before communications begin.
The policies within these regulations also impact marketing strategies like cold email outreach, which could qualify as spam if your outreach is deemed to have no legitimate interest to the recipient and was sent without acquiring the appropriate permissions.
Most of these laws are designed around consumer protections and serve as both anti-spam and data protection regulations. The use of email marketing and SMS messaging to send content to individuals when they haven’t explicitly consented to receive that content is where overzealous sales and marketing teams may fall outside of legally mandated bounds.
If you’re unsure whether the tracked emails you intend to send fall outside of these boundaries, it’s best to refrain from sending until you’re certain. Failure to do so could lead to lawsuits or legal fines.
Is Email Tracking Ethical?
Email tracking software can be a legal and ethical way for businesses to track customer behavior and communication. By understanding how customers interact with email, businesses can make better decisions about their products, communications, and marketing strategies.
When used correctly, email tracking becomes an invaluable source of customer data.
It’s important to remember that email tracking data should only be used for the purpose of improving customer experience and communications and never for another use case.
Unfortunately, for many companies, it’s very easy to blur these lines and fall outside of ethical bounds. For example, assume that your email subscribers gave personal data to you with the understanding that you would use it for direct messaging and follow up. If you were to then sell that data to a marketing firm without their consent, you’ve likely crossed ethical lines to do so.
To stay above board, consideration must be given both in how you email clients and in how you use and protect their data. As soon as data is used in an unapproved way, things take a turn for the worse — and this is possible even when consent has been given.
User privacy & data collection
In some sense, email tracking software violates user privacy by default.
Tracked emails can tell companies what you’re doing with the emails they send. This information can then be used (unethically) for ad targeting and other forms of aggressive marketing.
Email tracking can also be used to track your data.
This means that companies can see what you’re doing with their emails. That includes, when you open an email, whether or not an email was delivered, and how often you return to that email to look at it.
Often, the data provided by email platforms is pseudo-anonymized, meaning that specific data points aren’t attached to any one person. In reality, though, marketing platforms can get very specific about this — to the point that someone can see precise usage information regarding a specific email.
This is why consent is so important, whether you’re tracking emails using a Chrome and Gmail plugin or you’re using a dedicated mailing service.
Email Tracking vs. Read Receipts
There are several email tracking software options available, like HubSpot Sales or Yesware. Each with its own set of features.
But you also have another option: read receipts.
Read receipts, on the other hand, are a way to get confirmation that the recipient has read your email. This feature is typically included in email clients such as Outlook or Gmail, and it typically requires that a user consent to sending you a confirmation that your email has been received.
The downside here is that read receipts take extra work to set up. They need to be enabled upon sending, and the user needs to consent to send the reply. Some clients may not even register read receipts, or the feature may be automatically blocked in some business environments.
The benefit of email tracking is that the confirmation is both invisible and automatic. This is better in some ways because the user doesn’t have to do anything other than open the email.
From the perspective of privacy, it’s worse because something like a single signup form, a tickbox, or a single confirmation can be all a company needs to crowd your inbox with tracked messages.
So, are read receipts better than email tracking?
The answer depends on your needs.
If you’re trying to track whether or not your email was delivered and opened without letting the reader know, email tracking will do the job. If you feel that your reader won’t mind sending a receipt, read receipts may be a decent alternative.
In either case, it’s always best to get consent from the recipient before enabling either email tracking or read receipts.
Consequences of Tracking Emails
So far, we’ve walked through the basics, ethics, and legalities surrounding email tracking.
But what are the consequences if you choose to ignore the listed regulations and just begin to track emails without consent?
Unfortunately, there isn’t much data here. Most lawsuits that might fall into this category either arise from privacy rights or data protection violations.
For example, the Facebook data tracking lawsuit eventually reached a settlement when Facebook was found guilty of tracking users across websites without their consent. Google is also facing a lawsuit alleging that Incognito Mode doesn’t protect user privacy.
While neither of these legal actions relate specifically to email, it’s easy to see how data tracking and privacy violations from email tracking could fall into that category.
However, the reality is that most penalties for the misuse of data tracking tools won’t come from law firms or the legal system. They will instead come from the tools and services themselves.
Google has a very low tolerance for spam, and it only takes a minority of users flagging your emails as spam to suddenly find yourself unable to connect with another individual through their inbox. You won’t always receive notifications about it, either. You may simply be blacklisted with no way to solve the problem.
Tracking Your Own Emails
Looking for a way to track your own emails? Here’s a brief checklist to consider before doing so.
- Ease of use. Look for an email tracking solution that is easy to set up and use. You should be able to track your email activity without any hassle.
- Reporting. Make sure that the email tracking solution you choose offers comprehensive reporting features. You should be able to see detailed reports on your email activity, including who opened your email and when, who clicked on what links, and more.
- Integration. If you use a specific email service provider or CRM system, make sure that the email tracking solution you choose can be easily integrated. This will make it easier to track your email activity and see all your data in one place.
- Pricing. Email tracking solutions vary in price, so be sure to compare features and pricing before making a decision. Choose the solution that offers the best value for your needs.
If you need CRM integrations and reporting tools, a paid service might be for you.
However, if you’re looking for something free and easy to use, you might want to consider a Chrome extension like the Free Email Tracker for Gmail by PandaDoc.
This extension will tell you when emails are delivered and opened, so you can be sure your email has been seen. It’s especially useful for sales teams and marketers who are looking to take advantage of a personalized approach.
Add the extension to your browser today and follow the extension instructions to get started.
