out-law.com - legal news and business guides: "Current UK laws against spam

As seems common-place with e-commerce laws, no-one is really sure whether spam is currently illegal. First of all, the UK?s Data Protection Act can apply. This Act covers the collection and use of personal data, which can be as simple as an e-mail address in the format forename.surname@company.com ? because, from that information, an individual can be identified. The Act does not cover non-personal data, such as joe@hotmail.com. You can find out more about the Act and its requirements by reading our guide on data protection. There are equivalent laws throughout the European Union."