13
votes
[SOLVED] What does the unsubscribe button on Outlook or Apple mail do?
I'm not talking about the unsubscribe button that is at the bottom of an email that takes you to the sender's website to unsubscribe. I'm talking about the button that occasionally shows up in outlook or apple mail that is delivered by the application.
I have clicked unsubscribe using the built in unsubscribe button in outlook and apple mail, only to receive more junk mail from that origin later that day. These buttons don't seem to do anything. What are they doing behind the scenes that is supposed to be getting you off mailing lists?
I think you're describing the List-Unsubscribe header.
Like the link, it just sends a request, and its effectiveness depends on the sender actually doing what you asked.
That is it!
@mycketforvirrad I added a resolved tag to this post, but I don't know if there's another way to note that this was answered.
We usually amend the title too. I've gone ahead and done that for you.
seems like something that should be legislated, a la Do Not Call list
But look at how well DNC worked. It was a disaster and has made almost zero impact in terms of the amount of spam calls we all get.
I'm pretty confident that the main reason why it doesn't work is because there wasn't any enforcement involved. That being said, the times are a-changing; I know that the telephone companies are getting more involved in anti-spam measures, especially in regards to text messages.
There is an enforcement method already for spam emails. A company must remove you from their email list within 10 days of you submitting an unsubscribe request. If they don’t comply you are able to sue them.
A legitimate company that keeps you on their mailing list after you unsubscribe will fix it if you send them an email threatening to sue them.
It's a terrible enforcement method, though. First, one has to know that it's against the law to begin with, then they have to know that they have the ability to sue for it, then they have to know how to sue them and have all the resources necessary to do it. And above and beyond all of that, they need to be incentivized to do it, because it's a real pain to go through for no real reward. You could do all of that - or you could just put their domain in your spam filter and forget about them. If the government was serious about ending spam, they would make enforcement proactive, or at least easy to initiate.
It's hard to know which ones I've hit unsubscribe for, too, when I get so many. I unsubscribe very regularly, and I do feel like the volume of spam from firms that have (no doubt underhandedly) got my permission to spam me has dropped, but if it's a very irregular schedule, it's hard to detect. I could sometimes swear that I've requested to unsubscribe and it's been ignored, but to take the time to make a list or something to track it is something I don't have the energy for.
I feel that if a company has your email address it is inevitable that they will make a new mailing list and add you to it without your permission. The unsubscribe links they put in their emails only unsubscribe you from that particular list, and they likely do not have any automated means of opting you out of email marketing altogether.
Literally this morning I got an email asking me to resubscribe to GameInformer. It’s been close to a decade since I had a subscription or had shopped at a GameStop.
One thing that does actually work assuming the junk mail comes from a legitimate business, is sending an email threatening to sue them. Use the unsubscribe button first, but if they continue tell them you unsubscribed and will sue if they continue to contact you.
I somewhat-unreliably recall the List-Unsubscribe header coming a whilte after emails having "unsubscribe" hyperlinks becoming more common due to the EU and US passing laws that required easy opt-outs from marketing communications (The EU's "e-privacy Directive" in 2002, and the US' CAN-SPAM Act in 2003).
It isn't legislated, but it will soon become a mandatory requirement by Gmail, so most senders will have to implement it.
https://www.xomedia.io/blog/a-deep-dive-into-email-deliverability/