# Cold email vs spam: where the line is > Cold email is unsolicited, so when is it spam? Who you write to, how many, and how easy it is to say no, plus the rules Ballast enforces in code. Canonical: https://ballast.to/cold-email-vs-spam Last updated: 2026-11-06 How Ballast is meant to be used Cold email is unsolicited by definition, so the line isn't consent. It's whether one person is writing to another for a reason, and whether a no is heard. Spam is the same message to people with no reason to get it, from a sender who hides or keeps going. Maria Pop Unsubscribe maria@launchonit.com to Dana Two SDRs at Northwind Hi Dana, saw Northwind is hiring two SDRs. We help sales teams book their first meetings from launch directories. Worth a short call next week? Maria, LaunchOnIt Not interested? Reply "stop" and I won't write again. Dana replied. Sequence stopped in 3 campaigns A "stop" would have suppressed the address for good The difference ## Same inbox, different behavior | | Cold email | Spam | | --- | --- | --- | | Who gets it | One person, picked because their job makes the email relevant | Anyone with an address, from a bought or scraped list | | How many | A few dozen a day from each mailbox, written for a few hundred people | Thousands at once, the same text to everyone | | Who sends it | A real person at a real company, with an address that takes replies | A hidden sender, a fake reply thread, a borrowed brand | | Saying no | One click or one word, and it holds for every campaign | Ignored, or the address moves to another list | | After a reply | The automation stops and a person answers | The sequence keeps going | The law ## What the rules say, in four places Rules depend on where the recipient is, not where you are. This is a summary, not legal advice. ### United States No consent needed. Be honest and let people opt out No consent needed, and no exception for business email. Headers must be accurate, the subject must match the content, the email must say it is an ad, carry a valid postal address and an easy way to opt out, and opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days. [FTC, CAN-SPAM compliance guide](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business) ### United Kingdom Companies yes. Sole traders need consent Email to companies and LLPs needs no consent under PECR, as long as you don't hide who you are and give a valid address to opt out. Sole traders and most partnerships count as individuals and need consent. A named person's address is still personal data under the UK GDPR: you need a lawful basis, usually legitimate interests, and their objection is absolute. [ICO, business-to-business marketing](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/business-to-business-marketing/) ### France Allowed when it fits the person's job Email to professionals can rest on legitimate interest when it relates to their job, as long as they were told and can object simply and for free. Every email must show who sends it and a simple way to refuse more. Consumers need prior consent, and generic addresses like info@ aren't covered by these rules. [CNIL, prospection par courrier électronique](https://www.cnil.fr/fr/la-prospection-commerciale-par-courrier-electronique-sms-mms-et-automate-dappel) ### Germany Consent needed, even for businesses Advertising by email needs the recipient's prior express consent, businesses included. The exception is your own customers, for similar products, if they were told they could object. Cold email to German prospects is mostly off the table. [UWG § 7](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/uwg_2004/__7.html) Sources read November 6 and 7, 2026. In the product ## The rules Ballast enforces in code Not settings you can skip. These run on every plan, for every workspace. 1. 01 ### One-click unsubscribe on every email Every email carries the List-Unsubscribe header Gmail and Yahoo turn into a button, plus a link in the body or a line asking people to reply "stop". The workspace can't turn both off. 2. 02 ### A no holds everywhere An unsubscribe, a "stop" reply, a spam complaint or a bounce from an address that no longer exists puts the address on the workspace's suppression list for good and cancels every email queued to it, in every campaign. 3. 03 ### A reply stops the sequence When a person writes back, their sequence stops, and by default so does every other campaign they're in. Out-of-office replies only pause it until the date they give. 4. 04 ### A person's pace 30 emails a day per mailbox by default, 4 to 10 minutes apart, only in each lead's working hours. New mailboxes start lower and ramp up. 5. 05 ### Breakers you can't switch off A mailbox stops above a 5% bounce rate and on repeated spam complaints. A workspace stops above 8%, whatever its own setting. 6. 06 ### New accounts start small For the first 7 days a workspace can connect 5 mailboxes and send 1,000 emails a day at most. 7. 07 ### We can hold your sending We watch bounce rates, complaints and reports across workspaces. A workspace that breaks the Acceptable Use Policy has its sending held or its account suspended; a bought consumer list means suspension at once. 8. Docs ### Every limit in detail Daily limits, the ramp for new mailboxes, each breaker's threshold and what happens when one trips. [Sending safety](https://ballast.to/docs/sending-safety) Acceptable use ## What Ballast is not for Ballast is for one-to-one business email to people whose work makes your message relevant. The full rules are in the [Acceptable Use Policy](https://ballast.to/legal/acceptable-use). - Bought, rented or scraped lists of people with no business reason to hear from you - Newsletters, marketing blasts or emailing thousands of strangers - Hiding who you are, fake replies or a brand that isn't yours - Emailing anyone who unsubscribed, said stop or bounced ## Questions ### Is cold email spam? Cold email is unsolicited, so to some readers any of it is spam. What separates outreach from spam in practice is the rest: one relevant person instead of a list of strangers, a real sender, a small volume, and a no that is honored at once and everywhere. ### Is cold email legal? In the US it is legal under CAN-SPAM if the email is honest about who sent it, says it is an ad, has a postal address and a working opt-out. In the UK, email to companies needs no consent under PECR, but sole traders do and the UK GDPR applies to named people. In France it is allowed to professionals when it relates to their job and they can object. In Germany it generally needs prior consent. This page is not legal advice: check the rules where your recipients are. ### What happens when someone marks a Ballast email as spam? When the mailbox provider sends a complaint report, Ballast suppresses the address, stops every queued email to that person and records the complaint. Repeated complaints stop the mailbox. Gmail doesn't send these reports, so its spam rate comes from Postmaster Tools instead. ### Do I need consent to send B2B cold email? It depends on where the recipient is. In the US, no. In the UK, not for companies and LLPs, but yes for sole traders and most partnerships. In France, not for professionals when the email relates to their job and they can object. In Germany, almost always yes, businesses included. ### Does GDPR allow cold email? The GDPR doesn't ban it. A named person's work address is personal data, so you need a lawful basis, usually legitimate interests, you have to tell people where you got their details, and their objection to direct marketing is absolute. Each country's e-privacy law then decides whether email needs consent, which is why the UK, France and Germany differ. ### Can I email generic addresses like info@? The UK regulator says an email to an address that doesn't name a person, like info@company.com, involves no personal data, so the UK GDPR doesn't apply, though PECR still does. France's regulator says the same of generic company addresses. Germany's consent rule covers any recipient. ### Can I use a bought or scraped list with Ballast? Not a list of consumers, or of people with no business reason to hear from you: the Acceptable Use Policy rules both out, and a bought consumer list means suspension at once. Business lists should be verified before you send; Ballast flags invalid and risky addresses and can check them with your own verifier. ### How fast do I have to honor an unsubscribe? CAN-SPAM gives you 10 business days, and Gmail and Yahoo ask bulk senders to honor one-click unsubscribes within 2 days. Ballast suppresses the address the moment the request arrives and cancels every email queued to it. ### Does Ballast make my cold email legal? No tool can. Ballast handles the mechanics: the unsubscribe link and header, the suppression list, stopping on replies, the sending pace. Who you email, what you say and your legal basis for it stay your responsibility.