The sale of personal data to third parties without explicit consent has become a widespread practice, leading to a surge in spam calls, unsolicited emails, and targeted mail that invades individual privacy and creates significant risks of fraud and identity theft. By banning third-party data sales, consumers would regain control over their personal information, reducing their exposure to invasive marketing tactics. Furthermore, prohibiting spam calls and targeted communications would protect individuals from unwanted interruptions and potential scams. The argument for this proposal is grounded in the protection of consumer privacy, which is a fundamental right in an increasingly digital world. Allowing companies to sell personal information without clear consent undermines trust, exposes consumers to financial risks, and fosters a predatory marketing environment. A ban would restore privacy and trust, providing individuals with more control over their data and communications, while forcing businesses to operate with greater transparency and accountability.
@Kristinmarb
We absolutely need a ban on third party sales.
I’m just not sure about spam calls or targeted mail and emails. We definitely need regulations and standards but targeted email and snail mail can be valuable to growing businesses. Banning spam calls has the potential to put limits on business cold calls too.
Small and start-up businesses often utilize these methods to help market and build their business.
I agree the communications can be annoying and we need to make changes and set guidelines, but I’m not sure a flat ban is the answer.
Along with that, enforce the Can Spam Act against political spam. Among the culprits are “conservatives”, who are using spam emails to beg for donations. I have tried to unsubscribe from all of them. Three of them persist. One sends up to 10 emails a DAY. True conservatives would never invade a person’s privacy this way. I have asked numerous senders how to unsubscribe, but only one ever responded. It stopped using the list, but I am still getting emails from everyone else. And political robocalls were a huge problem. I pay Incogni to remove my data from third party sellers, and my phone got very quiet in an ELECTION season. Only one robocall all season! I shouldn’t have to pay to secure my privacy. In addition, I receive a monthly postcard from someone who wants to buy my home. I am not interested in selling, and their offers are half what Zillow says my home is worth. The problem is, they print my home address in plain sight for anyone to see. And this is unacceptable. My location is PRIVATE, and part of my security measures. If no one knows where I am, they can’t bother me. I am an elderly widow living alone. My state has sealed records. The address of the homestead should be sealed. I am sure you can come up with plenty more variations on the theme.
Sorry, but cold calls are NOT ACCEPTABLE. Consider this: suppose a person has a heart condition. Phone ringing startles him. A cold call could result in a fatal heart attack. Cold calls are rarely aimed at true potential customers.
Targeted emails are called SPAM. People sell targeted lists. Every so once in awhile, I get a spam from someone wanting to sell me a targeted list.
Spamming costs money. Use that money for other types of advertising. Spamming is illegal. Rightly so. If you have a small business, you can probably get coverage in a local newspaper, and although local newspapers are not as widely read as they once were, online news outlets like Patch regularly offer publicity. You can even leave a neighbor comment for free. Put up a web site. It doesn’t have to be costly or elaborate. Give each page a good set of meta-tags. Everyone needs to learn how to come up with meta-tags and keywords. Good search engines also pull keywords from the text itself.
In fact, I have located numerous local small businesses on search engines. They are really easy to find. All you need is a small web site. That’s just a basic business expense. I look for local small businesses all the time. I am sure other people do, too. And while you are at it, feel free to offer a SIGN UP on your site. That way, you are sending only to people who are interested.
I sell my art on an art site. They have provisions for emailing other artists. I started two groups. Groups are places where people can submit their art and get featured. They are a collection of similar art works and comments by artists. In order to build my membership in new groups, I spent a lot of time searching the site with keywords pertinent to my group. Once I located artists who do the kind of art of my group, I emailed an invitation. But I am limited to five recipients per email. My acceptance rate is nearly 100%. So obviously, this is “cold calling” to an actual group of real potential “customers”. It takes ingenuity to think of ways to contact real potential customers without harassing everyone else, but you can do it.
Sorry about your small business, but there should be no exceptions. It simply isn’t ethical to invade people’s private space, no matter how worthy you think your business is. And why do you think annoying or harassing someone is going to make him a customer in the first place?
Agreed. There’s no reason for it, there are plenty of other marketing options and annoying potential customers is a ridiculous tactic in the first place.
Agree 100%. All the frequent and unwanted intrusions are very irritating, especially to the elderly.