PECR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, are the UK rules that sit alongside UK GDPR and govern marketing by email, text, phone and the use of cookies. For email they require prior consent before marketing to individual subscribers, including sole traders and partnerships, with a soft opt-in exception for existing customers. Corporate subscribers, meaning limited companies and similar bodies, are outside the consent rule, which is what permits B2B outreach to named people at companies, provided the sender is identified and an opt-out is offered.
Compliance is enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office. Complaints trigger investigations; penalties are set by the seriousness of the breach and the harm caused, and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 raises the PECR maximum towards UK GDPR levels. The practical controls are: a record of consent for any individual subscriber, the sender's identity and a working opt-out in every message, and prompt suppression of opt-outs.
The corporate exception does not switch off UK GDPR: the person's work address is still personal data, so a lawful basis, usually legitimate interest, is still needed. The compliance guide covers both layers.
A UK agency prospects marketing directors at limited companies. PECR's corporate exception applies; legitimate interest under UK GDPR is documented; every email names the agency and carries an opt-out. A separate list of freelance designers, who are individual subscribers, is not emailed without consent, and the verifier's freemail flag is used to spot likely individuals.
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Verify Leads - FreeAyoub built BounceZero's 5-stage validation pipeline, its dedicated BGP-announced IP infrastructure, and the Patroni HA PostgreSQL cluster behind every verification. Previously built high-volume email delivery infrastructure. Trained at 1337 Benguerir (École 42 network, 2019). Open-source: bgp_analyzer.