Last week’s settlement between New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Datran Media sets a deeply troubling precedent that should outrage executives at any company using e-mail for marketing.
New York’s would-be governor apparently believes that companies should be on the hook for the privacy policies of every firm with which they do business.
Spitzer’s office announced last week that Datran—a company that performs e-mail marketing for companies such as Best Buy, British Airways and Pitney Bowes—agreed to pay $1.1 million to essentially make Spitzer’s investigators go away and leave Datran alone
Spitzer’s office accused Datran of marketing to e-mail addresses obtained from other companies contrary to claims made in the list providers’ privacy policies.
The New-York AG’s office didn’t accuse Datran of stealing lists.
As a result, it would seem that Datran was in Spitzer’s crosshairs because some list providers violated their own privacy policies.
The only company Spitzer’s office named was Gratis Internet, an ubiquitous online marketer that entices consumers to give their e-mail addresses in return for chances to get free iPods and other products.
When asked why Datran was taking the heat for what conceivably was Gratis’ violation of its own privacy policy, Spitzer’s spokesman, Brad Maione, said: “Once the information was purchased by Datran, they knew or should have known that these [privacy] assurances were made to consumers.”
As for what may happen to Gratis, Maione said: “The investigation is ongoing. That’s all I can say about that.”
Gratis maintains what looks to be dozens, if not close to 100 Web sites. The company did not return a call for comment.
According to Spitzer’s office, Gratis assures visitors to some of its Web sites that it will “never lend, sell or give out for any reason” the information consumers provide.
Datran maintains it did nothing wrong and that it stopped e-mailing Gratis files as soon as its executives realized there were questions surrounding Gratis’ privacy policies.
In Spitzer’s world, this was not good enough
Apparently, Spitzer’s office believes Datran should be ever-aware of the contents of the privacy policies at each of Gratis’ sites.
Both Datran and Spitzer’s office agree that Datran stopped mailing Gratis’ e-mail addresses before Spitzer’s office began to investigate.
So even though Datran was already taking steps to rectify the situation, Spitzer couldn’t resist dragging Datran’s name through the mud with a press release announcing the settlement so “I’m-Protecting-You-the-Little-Guy” Spitzer could grab more headlines.
As a result of this fiasco, Datran has hired Quinn Jalli, a well-known e-mail marketing executive formerly of Digital Impact, to be its chief privacy officer.
Jalli better prepare himself for some mind-numbingly boring reading with not much time for anything else. Because in Spitzer’s world, Jalli is now responsible for monitoring the privacy policies of every company Datran does business with. And if one of those companies changes one or more of its policies and Jalli isn’t aware, it’s Jalli’s … well you know.
