Technical Summary
An [RFC2369] email header field can contain HTTPS [RFC7230] URIs. In
a List-Unsubscribe header field the HTTPS URI is intended to
unsubscribe the recipient of the email from the list. But anti-spam
software often fetches all resources in mail header fields
automatically, without any action by the user, and there is no
mechanical way for a sender to tell a request made automatically by
anti-spam software from one manually requested by a user. To prevent
accidental unsubscriptions, senders return landing pages with a
confirmation step to finish the unsubscribe request that a live user
would recognize and act on, but an automated system would not. This
makes the unsubscription process more complex than a single click.
This document has several goals.
o Allow email senders to signal that a [RFC2369] List-Unsubscribe
header field has One-Click functionality.
o Prevent accidental unsubscriptions by issuing GET request on HTTPS
URLs in the List-Unsubscribe header field.
o Allow MUA users to unsubscribe from mailing lists in a familiar
environment and without leaving the MUA context. A receiving
system can process an unsubscription request in the background
without further interaction, and know that it can be fully
processed by the mail sender's system.
Working Group Summary
This is not a WG document, but the document was discussed on the DISPATCH mailing list.
Document Quality
At least two mail providers are planning to implement this specification.
Permanent Header Field registration was performed by Graham Klyne.
(Email thread to IESG starting on October 13th)
Personnel
The Document Shepherd for this document is Paul Kincaid-Smith. The responsible Area Director is Alexey Melnikov.