December 2007
How to opt out of marketing lists
Tired of having your mailbox invaded and dinner interrupted? The World Privacy Forum has listed 10 "opt outs" to help consumers
get their names and contact information off marketing lists. The nonprofit group's Web site, at www.worldprivacyforum.org/toptenoptout.html, explains how the opt-outs work and includes links and phone numbers. Here are five options that are especially useful:
The National Do Not Call Registry. Put your name on this list to stop most telemarketing calls. (You can't stop calls from charities, politicians, or companies you've done business with in the past 18 months.) Call 888-382-1222 or go to www.donotcall.gov. Your number stays in the registry for five years. The first registrations will start expiring next year.
www.optoutprescreen.com. Go this site to stop "preapproved" credit-card offers, or call 888-567-8688.
Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service. The 3,600-plus DMA member companies (catalog marketers and nonprofits, including Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports) must purge their mailing lists of people who register with this service, which costs $1. Go to www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing.
Financial-institution opt-outs. Once a year, financial institutions are required to send you their privacy policies, including how you can opt out if they share such information as your account balances. The Forum's site provides opt-out links for several of the largest banks in the U.S.
Data-broker opt-outs. Getting your name off lists sold by these companies, which compile consumer information culled from public records, credit transactions, even warranty cards that you've filled out, can be tough. One way is to link to the list of data brokers on the Forum's site and follow directions for opting out of each. An even more extensive list, compiled by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, is at www.privacyrights.org/ar/infobrokers-optout.htm.
Consumers Union mails subscription offers for Consumer Reports and its other publications. Because CU publications take no ads, subscriptions are their main revenue source. "We are advocates of opt-out options for consumers," says Meta Brophy, CU's director of publishing operations. "It's in the consumer's interest and our interest to send mail they want."
The National Do Not Call Registry. Put your name on this list to stop most telemarketing calls. (You can't stop calls from charities, politicians, or companies you've done business with in the past 18 months.) Call 888-382-1222 or go to www.donotcall.gov. Your number stays in the registry for five years. The first registrations will start expiring next year.
www.optoutprescreen.com. Go this site to stop "preapproved" credit-card offers, or call 888-567-8688.
Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service. The 3,600-plus DMA member companies (catalog marketers and nonprofits, including Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports) must purge their mailing lists of people who register with this service, which costs $1. Go to www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing.
Financial-institution opt-outs. Once a year, financial institutions are required to send you their privacy policies, including how you can opt out if they share such information as your account balances. The Forum's site provides opt-out links for several of the largest banks in the U.S.
Data-broker opt-outs. Getting your name off lists sold by these companies, which compile consumer information culled from public records, credit transactions, even warranty cards that you've filled out, can be tough. One way is to link to the list of data brokers on the Forum's site and follow directions for opting out of each. An even more extensive list, compiled by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, is at www.privacyrights.org/ar/infobrokers-optout.htm.
Consumers Union mails subscription offers for Consumer Reports and its other publications. Because CU publications take no ads, subscriptions are their main revenue source. "We are advocates of opt-out options for consumers," says Meta Brophy, CU's director of publishing operations. "It's in the consumer's interest and our interest to send mail they want."
