A. What matters is the “primary purpose” of the message. To determine the primary purpose, remember that an email can contain three different types of information:
1. Commercial content – which advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, including content on a website operated for a commercial purpose;
2. Transactional or relationship content – which facilitates an already agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer about an ongoing transaction; and
3. Other content – which is neither commercial nor transactional or relationship.
If the message contains only commercial content, its primary purpose is commercial and it must comply with the requirements of CAM-SPAM. If it contains only transactional or relationship content, its primary purpose is transactional or relationship. In that case, it may not contain false or misleading routing information, but is otherwise exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.
I read the thread too fast. Transactional emails are excluded under CAN-SPAM. But there are many times that "transactional emails" going out contain marketing/commercial content. There's a test for those emails to see if they pass: http://www.the-dma.org/press/PrimaryPurposeFactSheet.pdf
Many "transactional" emails probably fail the above test. It's shitty UX to make you login to opt-out, even if it's not against the law.
> I know this is true for mass marketing emails, but is it the same for transactional emails also?
That depends -- have you ever signed up with the sender? If so, you are asking to be spammed. When a company requires a signup, they are breaking the law, therefore you must not sign up. By signing up, you make the spam legitimate.
If they send you an unsolicited e-mail, they are criminals. If they require a signup to opt out, they are criminals. But if you sign up, they aren't. That's why they want you to sign up.
Explained at http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-complia... and excerpt below:
A. What matters is the “primary purpose” of the message. To determine the primary purpose, remember that an email can contain three different types of information:
1. Commercial content – which advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, including content on a website operated for a commercial purpose;
2. Transactional or relationship content – which facilitates an already agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer about an ongoing transaction; and
3. Other content – which is neither commercial nor transactional or relationship.
If the message contains only commercial content, its primary purpose is commercial and it must comply with the requirements of CAM-SPAM. If it contains only transactional or relationship content, its primary purpose is transactional or relationship. In that case, it may not contain false or misleading routing information, but is otherwise exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.