---
title: "Handle a commercial-email opt-out and a request to stop sale or sharing"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/privacy-data-protection-and-cyber/handle-direct-marketing-opt-out-and-source-requests/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A25-Y20261018-8-US"
practice_area: "Privacy, Data Protection & Cyber"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# Handle a commercial-email opt-out and a request to stop sale or sharing

> Log the request: date received, channel, whether the message the client describes is an advertisement, and whether the person asked to stop email or to opt out of sale or sharing. Draft no reply.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/privacy-data-protection-and-cyber/handle-direct-marketing-opt-out-and-source-requests/united-states  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Privacy, Data Protection & Cyber](https://ailawframework.com/practice/privacy-data-protection-and-cyber.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | Log the request: date received, channel, whether the message the client describes is an advertisement, and whether the person asked to stop email or to opt out of sale or sharing. Draft no reply. |
| What the lawyer must review | The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide covers commercial email, defined as email whose primary purpose is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service, including business-to-business email. The message needs accurate headers, a subject line that reflects the content, a clear statement that it is an advertisement, a valid physical postal address, and a working opt-out. An opt-out must be honoured within 10 business days. The mechanism must work for at least 30 days after the message is sent. A fee, or a demand for more than an email address, is not allowed. A CCPA opt-out of sale or sharing, which the Attorney General describes, is a different request and is answered by the business, not by treating it as an email unsubscribe. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Handle direct marketing opt-out and source requests](https://ailawframework.com/practice/privacy-data-protection-and-cyber/handle-direct-marketing-opt-out-and-source-requests.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: Log the request: date received, channel, whether the message the client describes is an advertisement, and whether the person asked to stop email or to opt out of sale or sharing. Draft no reply.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- A transactional or relationship message is outside most CAN-SPAM duties. The guide says those categories are narrow. You classify the message.
- Do not sell or transfer an address after an opt-out, except to a vendor hired to help comply, as the guide states.

## Sources

- [FTC: CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [California Attorney General: California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)](https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [ABA Formal Opinion 512, Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools (29 July 2024)](https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/ethics-opinions/aba-formal-opinion-512.pdf) (checked 2026-10-22)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Response to a direct marketing opt-out or source request (APP 7.6 and 7.7)](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/privacy-data-protection-and-cyber/direct-marketing-opt-out-and-source-request-response.md) | Letter | Yellow | Standard replies for an organisation that receives a request to stop direct marketing, to stop using or disclosing information to facilitate others’ marketing, or to name the source of the… |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*