In brief
- Email and text messages: to legal entities as well only with prior consent, unless the address was published for that purpose or the recipients are your own customers.
- Phone: you may call legal entities on business matters; sole traders and partnerships only with consent, since 1 July 2026 even if they are customers.
- Post: allowed, respecting the Non-Mailing Indicator and the right to object.
- A purchased list contains no consent. This is general information, not legal advice.
What Article 11.7 regulates
Article 11.7 of the Dutch Telecommunications Act covers unsolicited communication for commercial, idealistic or charitable purposes. Paragraph 1 prohibits using automated calling systems, fax and electronic messages (email, text messages, messaging apps) for that purpose unless the sender can prove that the end user gave prior consent. This applies to every end user, so also to businesses that are a legal entity. Paragraph 2 applies the same consent rule to other means, such as phone calls with a person on the line, but only towards natural persons.
Paragraph 3 contains the most important exception for B2B: no prior consent is needed towards a legal entity or a natural person acting in the course of their profession or business if you use electronic contact details that the recipient has designated and published for receiving such communication, and you use them within the purpose the recipient attached to them. A general contact address that a company must state by law does not automatically qualify.
The channels at a glance
Scroll the table sideways.
| Channel | Legal entity (bv, nv, foundation, association) | Sole trader, vof, cv, maatschap | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email, text message, messaging app | prior consent, except to addresses published for that purpose | prior consent, except to addresses published for that purpose | paragraphs 1 and 3 |
| Phone (person on the line) | allowed | prior consent | paragraph 2 |
| Automated calling systems, fax | prior consent | prior consent | paragraph 1 |
| Post | allowed; respect the Non-Mailing Indicator | allowed; respect the GDPR and the Non-Mailing Indicator | not covered by Art. 11.7 |
General partnerships (vof), limited partnerships (cv) and professional partnerships (maatschap) are not legal entities; the KVK treats them like sole traders when it comes to protection against unwanted marketing (KVK).
Telemarketing: opt-in and the change of 1 July 2026
Since 1 July 2021 an opt-in has applied to telemarketing to consumers and sole traders: calls are only allowed with prior consent, and the Do-Not-Call Register (Bel-me-niet Register) was abolished. Until 1 July 2026 a company could still call its own customers. That exception has lapsed: since 1 July 2026 consent is also required for existing and former customers (Ondernemersplein, in Dutch). Charities, lotteries and publishers of newspapers and magazines have their own arrangement.
Where the GDPR comes in
Data of a sole trader is usually personal data. Anyone using it for marketing needs a legal basis. For direct marketing by post this is often legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). On 4 October 2024 the Court of Justice of the EU confirmed that a commercial interest can also be legitimate, provided the processing is necessary and the balancing test favours the controller (case C-621/22, KNLTB). You must also inform the data subject (Article 14 GDPR) and honour objections immediately (Article 21(3) GDPR).
What this means for a purchased list
- Use the list for post, phone outreach to legal entities, CRM enrichment and market analysis.
- Use a legal form column to separate legal entities from sole traders.
- Do not send unsolicited email based on a purchased list unless you can demonstrate that paragraph 3 applies.
- Exclude addresses with a Non-Mailing Indicator and earlier objections from postal campaigns.
The Telecommunications Act is supervised by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), the GDPR by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens). For more on buying data, read buying Dutch company data: eight checks.
Frequently asked questions
May I email a bv without consent?
As a rule, no. The ban on unsolicited commercial email in Article 11.7(1) of the Telecommunications Act applies to all end users, including legal entities. Without consent it is only allowed to electronic contact details that the company itself has designated and published for such messages, within the purpose it attached to them (paragraph 3), or to your own customers for your own similar products with an opt-out (paragraph 4).
May I call a sole trader?
Only with prior consent. The consent rule applies to phone calls with a person on the line to natural persons (paragraph 2), and a sole trader is a natural person. Since 1 July 2026 this also applies if the sole trader is already a customer.
May I call a bv or foundation?
Yes. The consent rule for phone calls (paragraph 2) applies to natural persons. You may call legal entities such as a bv, nv, foundation or association on business matters, provided you observe the other rules, such as showing your number.
May I send advertising mail to businesses?
Yes, post is not covered by Article 11.7. Do respect the KVK Non-Mailing Indicator and, for sole traders, the GDPR: inform the recipient, offer an easy opt-out and process objections.
