PIPA requires organisations to comply with requests from individuals that they cease, or not begin, use of their personal information for the purposes of advertising, marketing or public relations.

The Electronic Transactions Act 1999 provided that the Minister responsible for electronic commerce had the power to issue a standard to apply to intermediaries or e-commerce service providers and such a standard was issued by the Minister on 5 May 2000 and came into force on 3 July 2000 (Standard). The definition of "e-commerce service provider" is "a person who uses electronic means in providing goods, services or information" while an "intermediary" (with respect to an electronic record) means "a person who, on behalf of another person, sends, receives or stores that electronic record or provides other services with respect to that electronic record". The Standard set out certain "Safe Harbour Guidelines" which included certain privacy requirements and the prohibition on the sale or transfer of personal data or business records of customers to another person for the purposes of sending bulk, unsolicited electronic records.