Tick, Tock…It’s the Privacy Clock

THINK YOU’LL NEVER need to get permission before you mail to consumers? Think you’ll always be able to choose whether you can utilize telemarketing? Think none of this matters because “it’s all Internet now anyway?”

Think again.

Big troubles are brewing. Even if you think the privacy issue is (a) not relevant and (b) boring, wake up and understand that, with information being shared worldwide, what happens in other lands can also happen here.

Did you know the list business in Hong Kong virtually ground to a halt when a data protection law went into effect? This measure was complex, but many also considered it ambiguous, making it especially difficult to administer. It has taken time and patience to understand the law and educate mailers about compliance with opt-out requests.

Did you know about Europe’s privacy law? According to The New York Times, this rule “requires that European citizens be told what their personal data will be used for. Citizens must have access to data about themselves in companies’ files, must have the ability to correct false information and must be given notice and the opportunity to opt out before personal data is transferred to a third party. [The law also provides] tighter rules governing the use of ‘sensitive’ personal data, like information about health and religious beliefs.”

In Italy alone, this law is purported to be the reason some major catalog companies (Trois Suisse, Maison Blanche, Quelle) closed their doors.

Investment in the direct marketing industry, so hot in the United States right now, could also be negatively affected. After Italy passed its mailing list opt-in measure, the Federation of European Direct Marketing Associations estimated that DM spending dropped from 7 trillion lira to 5 trillion lira in one year.

And did you know that due to Denmark’s severe restrictions on data collection, DM’s growth reportedly has been curtailed there?

Argentina, too, is considering taking steps to stiffen its regulations. It would require prior consent in writing before information could be collected for any purpose, especially marketing. If this effort moves forward, it’ll certainly have an impact on what has been a fast-growing DM market.

If you have any doubt that events in business overseas affect what happens in America, just watch how Wall Street reacts when there are problems in other countries’ stock markets.

A recent New York Times headline sums up what’s already occurring here: “Strict European privacy law puts pressure on U.S.” The Times is not just referring to how events on the Continent can influence legislation that determines how Americans use data. There also is concern about the privacy of data being transferred from our country to others and vice versa. The newspaper’s report details a Swedish case in which minor consumer “health” data, such as a request for kosher food or a wheelchair, could not be transferred from Swiss airline SAS to American Airlines.

The Internet’s emergence as a key marketing tool, along with the ease of transferring data anywhere in the world, is escalating this anxiety.

These days the Internet can too easily seem to have “privacy” attached to it, as if it were a kind of compound word. Support for online privacy could lead to the feeling that privacy control really means data control in all areas.

There seems to be one bright light in this unfolding scenario. President Clinton and many lawmakers still believe in self-regulation, something the DM industry has always prided itself on. However, there are others, such as the Federal Trade Commission, that think we need to greatly toughen our efforts.

Putting fear of legislation aside for a moment, there’s also the fact that it’s simply good marketing to treat your customers’ privacy with the utmost respect.

American Demographics magazine made it clear in a recent article that the best road is “full disclosure” and using customers’ data only for those purposes you told them it would be used.

DMA’s Plan The Direct Marketing Association agrees that we can do a better job and offers Privacy Promise as proof. This plan has four basic elements that consumer marketers must abide by if they want to remain in the DMA:

* Providing customers notice of how marketing information may be shared with other marketers.

* Offering customers the ability to opt out of information exchange.

* Maintaining an in-house suppression file of those consumers who do not want to be contacted by your company in the future.

* Using the DMA’s Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service suppression files when prospecting.

Suppliers aren’t off the hook; they must counsel clients on adherence to these practices.

All members must confirm their compliance by returning the Privacy Promise certification form to the DMA by July 1.

You can request a fax copy of the form by calling the DMA at 202-955-5030. Members may post questions or requests for forms to a special e-mail box, [email protected].

Have questions about whether or not you are in compliance? Call the DMA’s Jim Crowe, Sally Gaskin or Pat Faley at the number above. They can answer your questions, or, if you prefer, direct you to a Privacy Promise seminar being held free of charge around the country.

Seems like a big deal-and it is. When the largest DM association gets every member that markets to consumers to stand together and affirm that they do indeed protect their customers’ privacy, it makes a very strong statement. And it goes a long way toward reassuring those who make and influence laws that self-regulation really does work.

Not to mention that, if you belong to the DMA, your membership depends on it!