BigMoth

Submitting your details indicates your consent, until you choose otherwise

I read a consumer magazine dedicated to a specific brand of computers and phones - no prizes for guessing. The magazine's marketing is usually pretty good, permission based, and reflects well on the publisher.

However, this morning I received an email promoting its annual awards, voted for by its readers. Having five minutes to spend with my first mug of tea of the day, I ran through the survey. At the end of the survey was the usual privacy notice. I am quite diligent about double-checking these in a vain attempt to prevent my Inbox filling up with too much junk and not wanting an already busy phone ringing with offers I have not specifically sought or requested. To my dismay, I found this: 

"Please now click SUBMIT ANSWERS to send your responses to us. Your personal information will be used as set out in our Privacy Notice [link deleted]. Submitting your details indicates your consent, until you choose otherwise, that we and our partners may contact you about products and services that will be of relevance to you via, direct mail, phone, e-mail and SMS. You can opt-out at ANY time via the web or email."

I declined to submit my answers. Where is the permission here? "Submitting your details indicates your consent, until you choose otherwise". Not even an opt out. No "please may we contact you?", requiring a response. Not even a "please indicate that you do not wish to be contacted". Just "you can opt out at any time via" an unspecified website or an unspecified email address.

I am under no illusion that such a survey is a data farming exercise for the publisher, its affiliates and advertising clients.

So what was good about this? The email I received promoting the survey was signed by the magazine's editor with his name and (apparently) his personal email address. I fired off a message with my objections (perhaps a bit huffy, but not rude - I hope), and to his credit, I received a personal reply within the hour (it was Saturday morning) suggesting that he recognised that this was an issue and that he would look into it on Monday. "Aside from common courtesy, the fact that this put you off submitting the survey is a strong argument for getting it fixed."

This was not an auto-response, but something written by a human being who had just had an additional item added to his To Do list on a Saturday morning.

I like the fact that this editor put his name to his communication and has made himself accountable not just to the magazine's content, but the organisation's marketing activities, too.

Speaking of To Do lists, one of the most beautiful, simple (and free) tools for keeping track of your To Dos has got to be TeuxDeux - http://teuxdeux.com/. It's an online application, but it works well as an "app" with a Site Specific Browser tool like Prism, Fluid or Ice. Oh, and because of that, it will work on anything with an internet connection and a browser. You don't have to have the specific equipment that this magazine features.