The Underscore Archives

On 13/11/2007, Joel Hughes <jh at jojet.com> wrote:
> Oh I dunno, if you supply your email address then its not crazy to think
> you'll get an email.

True, but most (clueful) services these days make it very, very clear
what's going to happen. They say things like "We won't spam you - we
hate spam ourselves" or "We won't sell or rent your address. Ever."
They're going above and beyond the law to build trust with their
present and future customers.

> Tim, what would be the strict DPA compliance mode be here? (rather than
> "this is what I THINK would be better/compliant), be nice to be on the
> right side of the law and all that...

>From the DPA Article on Wikipedia, Plain Language Summary of Key
Principles, point 1:
"Data may only be used for the specific purposes for which it was collected."

Based on the changes we've had to make to our sites (and they're
business, not consumer, so they wiggle round the rules slightly), I'd
say you need to provide a checkbox that allows people to *opt-in* to
the newsletter.

"Save for some notable exceptions relating to existing customers, the
Regulations provide that organisations cannot send unsolicited
marketing communications by email to individual subscribers unless the
recipient has given his prior consent."
http://www.out-law.com/page-5657

IANAL...

Tim