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Will there be legal or other issues with merging lists from two or more websites? (23)

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Will there be legal or other issues with merging lists obtained from two or more websites?

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You can merge all databases in the world if you want. But you are not allowed to have database x- from domain x, mix up with database y - from domain y and then send out emails from domain x to both databases X and Y.

Because people from domain Y only subscribed for services from domain Y, and not for services from domain x. You have to let them opt-in again on the new domain.

But actual merging (for whatever reason) isn't illegal.

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That's helpful. But technically I am allowed to send to both databases x and y after merging them, even if they haven't opted in? Now this falls in the gray area because for instance if I find an email in the public domain, say on instagram and send bulk emails, it is still NOT spam as long as I have the unsubscibe link in place and emails are not sent anymore after one has indicated that it's unwanted...

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What you mean with "find an email" in the public domain? You do a leadform via Insta? Or people give you their email adress via PM? Or?

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There's email finder apps that one can use to find emails from Instagram, Facebook groups, etc. using targeted keywords. I have "mined" emails, but never sent out yet... And I am sure there's no harm there as long as the "unsubscribe" link is in place. And it's possible to send bulk emails (8000 a day after slowly warming up the account from 500 or 1000 till the max in a few months) with gmass (or similar) when combined with gsuite.
Some forums on the public domain leave huge databases of hundreds of thousands of emails. There's no restriction on using that either. But again, this is far from ethical ( and here's my disclaimer: 1. I haven't used any 2. This information I shared is purely for information/knowledge and by no means suggest anyone to implement).

P.S. Yes, I have a link on my instagram accounts, but not currently directing it to a link form. But now I am considering changing that to linktr.ee or contactinbio link or to my website. I am a bit confused here and may seek suggestions here if anyone does it. But yes, my dating instagram account is growing the fastest. Most there assume I am a beautiful lady (I have NOT indicated my gender anywhere) and get scores of DMs every single day out of the blue. And everyone who I have asked for an email has immediately complied and sent their email by DM.

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I suggest to visit blackhatworld more often mate, these "tactics" are more common over there than here on the forum. Also you might have a look at GDPR, it will make things more clear.

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That's a hint for me to shut up! And I will!! I am aware of blackhatworld but never tried it. I remember somone else suggested it in Feb or March and @twinaxe mentioned that they were pretty active there years back, but it is not so good now as they are rampant with promotions.

Coming back to the original question, it's official - I CAN merge two databases from different websites.

I did not learn nor want to learn, teach, or implement these "tactics". It's just my brain thinking about the possibilities and some things are better not discussed...

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If you really think it's allowed to scrape emails from the surface, without people knowing, and sending them offers blatantly. Man, you have a lot to learn a lot... again, these things are not discussed here and defintely not supported by STM or the online community as whole.

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I have already clarified in my last message TWICE:
Once - "That's a hint for me to shut up! And I will!! I am aware of blackhatworld but never tried it. I remember somone else suggested it in Feb or March and @twinaxe mentioned that they were pretty active there years back, but it is not so good now as they are rampant with promotions."


Twice - "I did not learn nor want to learn, teach, or implement these "tactics". It's just my brain thinking about the possibilities and some things are better not discussed..."

I SWEAR I have NEVER done it. But am aware of scraper software that are available for purchase. It isn't that I went chasing them... In fact one them was added on it's own from my appsumo ( as reputable as it is!) subscription ( Just clarfying yet again that it does not mean it's ethical, approved or allowed).

And sure I am learning every single day and will continue to do till my last breath... so does every other human!

Life's about 'black' and 'white' I cannot expect my brain to think 'white' all the time or expect others to be that way.

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You can't email scraped emails just like that, at least you should not try that in Europe.

Technically speaking, you can announce the merge and ask people to re-optin to your new list, but again - you can't legally email commercially from the new domain without getting an approval.

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Thanks for the clarification! And this puts my doubts to rest. I would not have asked this question in the first place if I were not concerned... But yes, as I said there's scraper tools available on reputable platforms for whatever purpose.

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You can also buy lock picking sets online but you are not allowed to pick other peoples locks without their permission.

Just because there is software to scrape emails it doesn´t mean that you can scrape them and spam these users emails.

Did the users give you permission that you are allowed to send them emails?

If not it´s spam.

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Cheers! Yet I didn't expect reputed platforms like appsumo... As I have clarified I haven't done or approve myself. But did expect an open discussion without judging anyone. You may have observed those really do it won't talk in the open. Someone has said, "barking dogs, seldom bite" for a reason.

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Sure it is technically possible and there are people who make much money with it.

But it doesn´t change the fact that you are not allowed to send rendom people emails when they didn´t allow you to do so.

Ask yourself why there are SOI and DOI offers where companies pay affiliates like me and you for emails instead of just scraping them and sending out emails in bulk

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Of course! And there are better ways of making way more money!!
"But it doesn´t change the fact that you are not allowed to send rendom people emails when they didn´t allow you to do so." ---> The sender can always say that they found the email on Instagram bio or a facebook group or some forum and open the communication chain without making it look spammy, even though 1000s got that email one after the other...
Let's close this discussion as more than one already answered my initial question to my full satisfaction.
Thanks again for sharing your useful insights!

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What you described here is simple spamming... no permission = spam.

Plenty of folks are doing this anyways, but it's certainly not legal... but in case you're living in the "right" part of the world, it's pretty safe to do it anyways That's why my email is full of spam all the time.

From what I know, it's quite complicated and COSTLY to run a proper spamming operation... you need bulletproof hosting company that won't care about the complaints, email severs that have both eyes blind and wont care too etc...

But there are certain GEO specific workarounds... in some countries it's legal to send a one time email with with a request to email a business proposal, for example... so technically, you could email to anyone, asking them for permission to email them some offer, in case they agree, it equals to an optin... and I'm sure there are more ways. Never looked into it in great details since it's not my playground

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Not my playground either. Yes, in the "right" places of the world, it would still cost a lot of resources. I mean if I know about hacking while doing a degree on computer science, I would prefer to start a security agency or atleast try to be a "Bill Gates" and end up way lower (yet great position!), instead of stealing. As I clarified my original question has been answered well. Sadly, the discussion took a different and unwanted course. But, personally, I think it's all good and a part of the learning process.
Thank you!

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You ask if there will be legal issues. We say yes, you say it's a grey area. What's the point of asking these questions then anyway?
Based on your previous started threads again, I suggest to go to Blackhatworld since they are more into shady, short term solutions to "boost" your journey.

Nobody is a saint, but we try to be as legit as possible and would never support or advice to take these dirty roads.

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I have clarified enough. It's unfortunate the discussion took a different course than it was intended. Honestly, I don't have the time right now to check blackhatworld. And I am all set to soar into the skies with my perfectly legit methods. No need to try those paths when life's good.

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Amen to this

I also ran lots of Blackhat stuff in the past but I also think the trouble is not worth it when I can succees with clean stuff as well.

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Amen.

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To switch things a little bit here I would be happy to tell you how we didn't merge emails but worked on building a duplicate list from our primary list.

We had a branded list with a spokesperson name and she was really protective about what offers and how often we could promote. You could imagine how this impacts the bottom line when you can only offer so many times a week and they had to be the cleanest offers you can think of.

To combat this we created a duplicate list taking every email we acquired and generated a indoctrination email with a unsubscribe button at the top, an explanation of who the new domain was, and killer content for the first 10 days (no selling yet). We worked with out ESP and they were totally okay with this approach although inboxing was a bit of a challenge and we had to try a couple domains (a more seasoned one ended up working best).

We didn't mention the branded list and it worked for us and I know has worked for lots of other folks in similar situations. That might help you "Merge" the lists without getting a host of Spam complaints or pissing off every ESP.

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That's great. Thanks for sharing!

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