A company keeps sending me marketing emails after I unsubscribed. What law protects me?

What the Law Says

The primary EU law protecting you from unwanted marketing emails is the ePrivacy Directive, which sets strict rules on electronic communications — including email marketing. It works alongside the GDPR to ensure consent is freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous.

Under the ePrivacy Directive, companies must obtain your clear, active consent before sending marketing emails — pre-ticked boxes or silence do not count.

Once you unsubscribe, the company must stop sending marketing emails without delay — and in practice, courts and regulators expect compliance within 24 hours.

The Directive requires that every marketing email includes a simple, free, and automated way to unsubscribe — and that this mechanism remains functional for at least 30 days after the message is sent.

Statutory Text

Processing of personal data in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services… shall be prohibited unless the subscriber or user has given his or her consent.

— Directive 2002/58/EC, Art. 13(1) — Unsolicited communications

Statutory Text

The person concerned shall be given the right to object, free of charge and in an easy manner, to such use of electronic contact details…

— Directive 2002/58/EC, Art. 13(2) — Right to object

Sources