Overview
Fullpath by Cox Automotive exists to help dealerships build stronger customer relationships through data and AI — and that only works if the emails your dealership sends are trusted, not flagged, blocked, or reported as spam. Email compliance isn't an afterthought in Audience Activation; it's built into how the product works.
As your partner in customer communication, protecting your dealership's reputation and legal standing matters as much to us as it does to you. This article explains the federal law that governs commercial email — the CAN-SPAM Act — and how Fullpath's Audience Activation platform is built to support your compliance with it.
What CAN-SPAM Requires
The CAN-SPAM Act is the federal law governing commercial email in the United States. Unlike some other privacy laws, it doesn't require a customer's advance permission before you can email them — but it does require every commercial email to follow a set of honesty and opt-out rules. In plain terms, every commercial email must:
The seven core requirements:
- Use accurate sender information — no misleading "From" names, domains, or routing.
- Use a subject line that honestly reflects the email's content.
- Identify the message as an advertisement when it is one.
- Include a valid physical postal address for the sender.
- Provide a clear, working way to opt out of future emails.
- Honor opt-out requests within 10 business days.
- Ensure that anyone sending email on your behalf also follows these rules — the business being advertised remains responsible even when a third party (like an email platform) sends the message.
Notably, CAN-SPAM is separate from other rules your marketing may also need to follow — like the TCPA (which governs texts and calls and does require prior consent) and FTC/CARS rules on how vehicle pricing is presented in advertising, including email.
How Audience Activation Supports Your Compliance
Audience Activation is built around these same seven requirements. Here's what that looks like in practice:
Sender identity
The "From" name on every Audience Activation email is always your dealership — never Fullpath or a generic sender. The sending domain is configurable per account: your dealership can choose to send from its own domain or from a Fullpath-managed domain, depending on how your account is set up.
Honest subject lines and pricing
Subject lines and pricing/offer content in Audience Activation emails follow the same all-in pricing standards required under FTC vehicle-advertising rules — so a subject line promising a price or offer is required to match what the email body actually delivers.
Advertisement disclosure
Dealership marketing emails sent through the platform are built to meet this requirement as standard practice — no separate configuration needed.
Postal address and opt-out
Timely opt-out handling
Unsubscribe requests are recorded by Audience Activation the moment they happen and suppress future sends going forward — well inside the 10-business-day window the law requires.
Your Responsibilities as the Sender
Compliance is a shared responsibility. Fullpath provides the platform and safeguards described above, but under CAN-SPAM, your dealership is the business being advertised — and legal responsibility for the content and conduct of your campaigns can't be fully delegated to a sending platform.
If you have questions about a specific campaign or template, reach out to your Fullpath account team before it goes out.