1999 - The Year of Privacy Avocation
By Robert B. Swick,

Vice President Data Services, Anchor Computer, Inc.

Interest in the issue of Consumer Privacy has been building over the past three years. Last year we were bombarded with an onslaught of privacy issues, not the least of which involved our President. It’s appropriate, therefore, that 1999 be the year Direct Marketers assure consumer privacy becomes a standard within our industry.

The Direct Marketing Industry is fortunate to have an association with proven leadership on such important issues. On this matter, the Board of Directors of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has made a Privacy Promise to American consumers. The promise is an assurance that all DMA members will follow certain specific practices to protect consumer privacy.

Why the concern? A recent Louis Harris poll found that 88% of respondents are concerned about threats to their personal privacy. And, more than 40% feel they have had their privacy wrongly invaded by a business. The concern is real and the need to act as an industry is imperative because the probable alternative is government intervention.

We communicate and conduct business in more rapid and technologically advanced ways than even a year ago. That means the speed and simplicity to order goods and services, seek advice or talk to friends and strangers around the world continues to improve. Instant, direct access … to almost anything.

For example, the drive for instant knowledge has led to a new generation of "In Your Face" reporting. It is become commonplace for situations to be reported as they occur and relayed without time for reflection. This has created another dimension of intrusion on those caught in the limelight and, for that matter, those of us who aren’t so enthused to being fed instant details of others.

Sooner or later there was bound to be a reaction to this drive to inform, this invasion of our sensibilities. As in most cases, there’s truth, or right, to both sides. What’s needed is balance. And here’s where the concern for privacy must come to the collective conscience of all in the direct marketing industry.

As Direct Marketers, we know the cost of misguided messages. They add to a campaign’s cost and often generate negative impact to the promotion. For example, a major health insurance company in Florida experienced negative feedback to their prospect programs from relatives of deceased individuals to whom offers were addressed. After taking positive measures to cleanse their files of known deceased, the situation became a non-issue. This reactive process became a proactive procedure on all future campaigns.

Two key attributes of direct marketing – (a) pre-selective audiences (b) reached in the comfort of home – are also the basis for criticism. The criticism is usually described as invasion of privacy. Regardless of the accuracy of such a charge, it is in everyone’s best interest, direct marketer and consumer alike, to establish procedures that prevent that claim to become commonplace.

The Direct Marketing Association is calling upon its members to actively participate in its drive to make a binding pledge, a Privacy Promise, to American consumers.

The Privacy Promise is a public assurance that all members of the DMA will follow certain specific practices to protect consumer privacy. In so doing, members will:

Provide customers with notice of their ability to opt out of information exchanges;

Honor customer opt out requests not to have their contact information transferred to others for marketing purposes;

Accept and maintain consumer requests to be on an in-house suppress file to stop receiving solicitations from your company; and

Use the DMA Preference Service suppression files, which now exist for mail and telephone lists – and e-mail lists, which are evolving.

Of course it is good business to adhere to the interests of your customers. In the case of the privacy issue the benefits of applying the above procedures include:

• Build and improve consumer trust in your organization and our industry;
• Protect our industry from burdensome regulation inhibiting our freedom to market;
• Demonstrate that DMA members respect individual consumer privacy choices; and
• Show you support a self-regulatory solution to consumer privacy protection.

These industry-wide procedures, scheduled to become effective July 1st, will require all members to notify their customers that they have a choice not to have their contact information rented, sold or exchanged. Such notification has been a standard practice for many companies. Others will need to initiate such notices beginning in July. In all cases the guidelines call for you to give follow-up notices to your customers at least once a year.

The DMA has created a compliance guide entitled, "Privacy Promise" for its members. This informative brochure not only describes the pledge but also defines who’s involved and sets forth a series of pertinent questions and answers as a means of describing the how, why and benefits for all. It needs to be read and adhered to by all for two practical reasons:

• Enthusiastically embraced, the practice will enhance company image.
• Our initiative will thwart the ever-present threat of government intervention.

The dichotomy of our desire for communication improvements is fascinating. On the one hand we demand change (i.e. video telephones, instant access to everything) and yet we demand our privacy. Harmony is possible as long as the principle of respect for others prevails.

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