Have your name removed from Telemarketing Lists and DMA
How often do you pick up the mail only to find that most of what
you receive is "junk mail" ? If you are like most of us, you
receive more junk mail than mail that is actually of interest.
Junk mail does not pose a direct threat to our privacy and
security in and of itself. However, the fact that your name,
address, and who knows what other personal information is being
sold, rented, or given to the companies that send out the junk
mail filling your mailbox should be of concern.
The question to ask yourself--and perhaeps the companies with
which you choose to conduct business--is, "What right does a
company have to use my personal information in it's marketing
schemes without my consent?" If a company is going to make a
profit by selling your personal information, it should be at
least have your permission to do so,
A REAL THREAT While i have said that junk mail does not pose a
direct threat to our privacy and security in and of itself,
there is in fact a very real threat from direct marketing (junk
mail) and telemarketers. Many companies are using prison inmates
to conduct telemarketing and screen responses to direct
marketing.
The November 15, 2001 edition of the Abilene Reporter-News
reported that a Texas woman, April Jordan, has filed a lawsuit
against Sandsar Family Entertainment for putting her family at
risk by using felons to conduct telemarketing. Accoridng to the
reports, Jordan's 14-year-old daughter answered the felon's
telemarketing call to the Jordan home, and, as a result, this
felon obtained the girl's name, home address, age, physical
description, and other personal information. The felon then
provided this information to another inmate, who sent a
suggestive letter to this young girl!
The use of inmates to make telemarketing calls and process
marketing information is not a rare or unique occurrence. Major
corporations, such as AT&T and Honda, are reported to have used
inmates for telemarketing and data-entry purposes, and TWA is
reported to have used inmates to make airline reservations.
There is perhaps a place for employing inmates (the old clich