The UK’s new Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 will be changing the direct marketing laws to make it easier for charities to send electronic marketing to existing supporters and supporters who have expressed an interest in the charity without their express consent.
This is referred to as the “soft opt-in” rule which is currently relied on by many commercial businesses and will be amended to broaden the scope to charities.
How can charities rely on soft opt-in?
Charities can send electronic marketing such as, emails or text messages or direct messages on social media, without the consent of a person, providing:
- The sole purpose of electronic marketing is to further the charity’s own charitable purpose(s)
- The charity collected the contact details directly from the person themselves
- The charity collected the contact details when a person:
- expressed an interest in one or more of the charitable purposes; or
- offered or provided support to further one or more of those purposes
- People are given a simple and free of charge way of opting out of direct marketing at the time of:
- collecting their contact details; and
- every subsequent direct marketing message thereafter
How can charities start to rely on soft opt-in?
The UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner, has stated that this change allowing charities to rely on the “soft opt-in” rule is planned to commence from January 2026.
What is the latest from the UK regulators on soft opt-in?
The Information Commissioner has produced draft guidance and launched a consultation on the new rules aiming to gather feedback from charities. The consultation runs from 16 October to 27 November 2025 and details can be found here.
What can charities do now to prepare?
- Review your privacy policy to inform people of the reliance on “soft opt-in”
- Review your consent mechanisms and plan the changes needed to rely on “soft opt-in”
- Review your current opt-out mechanism and plan the changes needed to rely on “soft opt-in”
- Ensure you have a do not contact list of people who have opted out of receiving direct marketing
- Review existing marketing lists to separate people who have given their consent to electronic marketing and people who will be sent it using the “soft opt-in” rule
- Train staff on how to respond to queries and complaints from people about the direct marketing
- Implement policies and procedures to ensure staff know how to implement “soft opt-in” and the rules around data protection