Tech Group Announces Privacy Standards
W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 26 -- Getting “spammed” is the price of using e-mail, it seems.
As mounds of unwanted messages pile up in in-boxes, hawkinganything from debt reduction to weight reduction, some large e-mailmarketing companies want to make sure four-letter words offrustration aren’t directed at them or their clients.
The Responsible Electronic Communications Alliance — a new groupof 15 companies that includes DoubleClick, 24/7 Media, BigfootInteractive and ClickAction Inc. — proposed privacy standardsMonday that it hopes will cut down on Internet spam.
The group presented the standards at an industry trade show inBoston as sort of a “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” forInternet direct advertisers.
The proposal:
Bans advertisers from sending solicitations to consumerswithout consent.
Allows consumers to remove themselves from mailing lists.
Restricts e-mail to relevant content.
Requires members to state how the information customers providewill be used.
“We think this is going to have a major impact and eliminate alot of the clutter in people’s mailboxes,” said lawyer ChristopherWolf, alliance president.
The plan is still in draft form, and a final proposal will notbe approved before next year.
Getting Personal?
Companies using e-mail are increasingly trying to be morepersonalized with the information they send to potential customers,which means privacy becomes even more important, said industryanalyst Michele Pelino, director of Internet marketing strategiesat Yankee Group in Boston.
Pelino said the alliance’s plan has merit because it establishesways it can be enforced. Violations would be reported forinvestigation to an independent auditor, and companies could besubject to fines and forfeiture of the seal.
“That’s where there seems to be some meat and teeth — tomonitor and really evaluate whether the members are participatingeffectively,” Pelino said.
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