If you work with a national beverage distributor who promotes a new product by blasting information to users using email addresses collected from a partner site, the issue with how they’re promoting the product is that they should have asked for user consent.

• Your customer has used email addresses from a previous company.
• Your customer should have emailed all previous users first.
• Your customer should have asked for consent.
• Your customer should have verified the email addresses.

The correct answer is: Your customer should have asked for consent

The answer “Your customer should have asked for consent” is correct.

Explanation: Using email addresses obtained from a “partner site” and then “blasting information” without explicit, verifiable consent directly from the individual recipients is a major violation of privacy regulations (like GDPR in Europe, CAN-SPAM in the US, and similar laws globally) and best practices for email marketing. Sending unsolicited emails can lead to high spam complaints, damage brand reputation, hurt email deliverability, and result in significant legal fines. The beverage distributor needs to ensure they have proper consent from each individual before emailing them.

Reference Links: What Is Consent-Based Marketing? Benefits, Strategies & More – CookieYes: https://www.cookieyes.com/blog/consent-based-marketing/ (Emphasizes that “Consent-based marketing ensures compliance with privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA, which mandate informed consent before businesses collect or use user data.”)

How to Properly Obtain Consent for Email Marketing in 2025 – PixCraft: https://pixcraft.io/blog/how-to-properly-obtain-consent-for-email-marketing-in-2025 (States, “Under GDPR, CASL, and PECR, this is considered unlawful. Even in the U.S., where opt-in is not required, you must provide an opt-out and identify yourself clearly.”)