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National
Cut Junk Mail Month April 1 - May 1 |
Credit card junk mail:
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You may be concerned that, by returning credit card junk mail to
the post office, it may end up trashed in back of your local post
office. Generally, this will not be the case. Most, if not all credit
offers are sent via pre-sorted first class mail. That means the post
office must return those mailings to the firms that sent it. Only
'standard' mail (formerly known as bulk / 3rd class mail) is trashed
when returned to the post office. Credit card junk mail is all too common. In 2002, of the 5 billion sent, only 1 in 200 resulted in a credit application. And each time a firm accesses your credit report to determine if they should send you a credit offer, it is recorded on your credit record. Someday, when you may need credit, all those queries may be seen by a lender as evidence of your inability to get credit elsewhere. To limit such junk mail and protect your credit rating, it is important to prevent credit reporting agencies from helping junk mailers. You may do this by calling a specific toll free number described below . [top] |
The Business Reply Envelope (BRE):
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Many junk mailers, particularly those offering financial
services, include a postage paid business reply envelope. When
returned, the junk mailer must pay from 35¢ to 39¢ per ounce
of mailed material, plus a fee of about 9¢ to 97¢ per item
(depending on options selected by the junk mailer). Thus, for
each BRE
returned, with a total weight of 1-ounce or less, the junk mailer may
pay anywhere from 45¢ to $1.34 [top] |
Bar coded BRE's:
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Recently, more and more folks have been returning empty BRE's to
junk mailers in order to financially punish them for their torrent of
trash. In response, junk mailers have begun imprinting their BRE's with
bar codes / legal warnings, hoping to stop that practice. But some
folks just cut out the bar code and cover the hole with a scrap of
paper taped over it. We don't suggest that you do such a thing
because it wouldn't be nice... would it? [top] |
Stuffing junk mail back into BRE's:
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With or without bar coded warnings from junk mailers, many
thousands of people are stuffing their junk mail back in BRE's and
returning them. Some people include junk mail from other mailers too
(who knows, the receiving junk mailer may see something they like).
There are stories about folks taping BRE's to bricks. But we've heard
that the post office does not deliver such mail. One thing we
haven't heard of, is the practice of putting a penny in the BRE
to help pay return postage. We suppose that wouldn't be a good idea, as
the metal may damage the automatic letter opening machines used in the
junk mail industry... and that's not nice. [top] |
Courtesy Reply Envelope (CRE):
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If a junk mailer doesn't include a BRE it will likely include a
CRE. CRE's are self-addressed envelopes without postage. Some junk mail
recipients get so irate that they inadvertently put
a 3¢ stamp on the CRE's they get and send it back with a note,
asking to be removed from the outfit's junk mail list. Unfortunately,
a junk mailer would likely pay the additional 34¢ postage due,
assuming that the sender mistakenly used the wrong stamp. We don't
suggest that anyone do such a thing (short stamp) intentionally. It
just wouldn't
be nice. [top] |
Annual Privacy Statements:
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Each year, every financial firm (banks / insurance companies /
investment firms / tax preparers / etc.) you do business with on
a continuing basis, must send you a 'privacy policy' describing its
practices concerning their use and possible merchandising of the
private data they have on file about you. The law behind it is the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Essentially, the Act allows firms to
profit from your
privacy, unless you tell them not to. It also requires such firms
to advise you of this every year, and give you an opportunity to
opt-out
of their 'information sharing'.
Here is a link to a summary of the Act and how it
affects you. Generally, you will receive their privacy policy notices
in July. It is important to respond and tell these privacy pirates to
knock it off. [top] |
Credit reporting agencies help junk mailers - Stop them! Call 888 - 567- 8688 (888 5 opt out):
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There are three major credit reporting agencies. Known as CRA's,
they are: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They keep credit records on
just about all of us. Those records can include your credit history,
estimated or actual income, financial liabilities / assets, such as the
equity in your home and much more. These firms are a source of
information to investigators, lenders, junk mailers and others. Another
firm, Innovis is remarkably secretive about what it does, but it is
also involved in the collection and use of personal credit data
The good part is that, by law, these four firms may not sell your data
to junk mailers if you tell them not to. To do so, call the above
toll-free number. Private Citizen strongly suggests you do it. [top] |
Your listing in the telephone book:
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If your number is listed in the telephone book, it would be a
good idea to ask the phone company to remove your home address from the
listing. Generally there is no monthly charge for this but you may be
charged a small amount to make the change. Also, you can list your name
under a name 'by which you are known'. Therefore, you can use your
first and middle or baptismal name as your name in
the phone book. In other words, John Quincy Doe can be listed as John
Quincy in the book. This, along with the deletion of your address, will
give you a free 'listing' in the book that is essentially 'unlisted'
(except for your number). Here's the benefit. Phone companies
sell 'listed' information from the phone book to junk mailers. If your
address or real name isn't their, there's not much that junk mailers
can do with it. [top] |
Voter registration and other government records:
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Except for your car registration, drivers license, social
security and tax information, just about all other data the
government has about you is for sale. Your county clerk has your
mortgage information, which they likely sell. Information you gave when
you registered to vote is for sale. If you have a state hunting,
aircraft or boat registration, that's sold too. You give data to the
government (as required) for a specific purpose. Then they sell it to
junk mailers, politicians, charities, lobbying groups, database
marketers, etc. for a different purpose - all without your knowledge or
permission. The government says the data is 'public information'.
Our suggestion; write your federal / state law makers. Tell them that data regarding a person, that is maintained in a government database, should be used only for a purpose related to the context in which it was acquired. In other words, the data may be public in nature, but its usage should not be beyond the purpose for which it was collected. If a person elects to allow the further release of his/her data, it should be premised on that person's prior, specific, affirmative and express consent. [top] |
Preset opt-in:
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Just about every time you give personal data to a business,
government agency or charity, that data is assumed to be there's, which
they may sell without your knowledge or consent. It's true whether you
release it on-line, by phone or by mail when you order, subscribe, or
donate. Make it a habit, when you order: |
| » | on line, look
for a little box next to text that says something like, "Yes,
send my exciting offers". If it has a check-mark or "X" in it, click
on it to remove that indication. |
| » |
by mail, look
for a little box next to very small text that says something like, "Do
not send me exciting offers". Put an "X" in that box. |
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by phone, before
you get off, be sure to say, "Put me on your do-not-call list. And do
not merchandise any information concerning this transaction with other
entities". [top]
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Postal change of address form:
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If you plan to move, either permanently or temporarily, the post
office will ask you to fill out a change of address form (PS Form
3575). But what they won't tell you is that they'll sell (they call it
license) your new address to over a dozen database marketing firms that
then sell it to junk mailers, as a new mover. Here is how to get around
the post office's complicity in generating junk mail to you when you
move. Box # 2 on PS 3575 asks if your move will be temporary. Check the 'yes' box and in box # 4 indicate that the length of your move will be just under one year. By doing this the post office will not sell your name to the database marketing firms. Instead, the post office will give you the same forwarding service that you would have had, had you indicated a permanent move; except for one issue. That issue is that you will have to notify the organizations you want to regularly get mail from, such as magazines / credit card bills, of your new address during the first 60 days of your move. This is easy to do, as 'real' mailers generally include information on how to notify them of your new address. [top] |
Retail stores and:
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Telephone Numbers
- If you are asked for your home phone number at the check out counter
of your your local retailer, even when you pay cash, it is likely
the retailer will give it to a database marketing firm that will return
your name and address. Even unlisted numbers are on file at database
firms. Do not give your phone number to any outfit unless it gives you
a VERY
GOOD REASON to have it. ("For our records" or 'For warrantee purposes"
is not necessarily a good reason.) Giving up your phone number will
result in junk mail sent to your home. For fun, give the clerk the
number of
your US Congressional Rep's local office. After all, he/she is your
representative, and if they get a flood of junk mail, it may illustrate
the need for a national do-not-mail list. Find your representative's
local
office here. Credit Cards - Some retailers keep a record of credit card numbers used by their shoppers and transmits those numbers to a credit reporting agency (CRA). The CRA then returns the name and address of those shoppers. This can result in retailer sending junk mail to your home. Use your credit card with care. Preferred Shopper Cards - By using such cards at your grocery store, you allow that retailer to record every purchase you make, and send you junk mail based on those purchases. The retailer could also sell that information to insurance firms who are setting health insurance premiums for specific applicants. [top] |
Warranty cards:
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When you buy something that comes with a warranty card asking you
to fill in all sorts of information about your hobbies, age, number of
children, etc, and the card is addressed to someplace in Colorado, you
should think twice about sending it in. An outfit called National
Demographics and Lifestyles receives those warranty cards, compiles the
information that you filled in and sells to to junk mailers. Your
purchase receipt is a record your warranty. There is little benefit to
sending warrantee cards to a Colorado address. [top] |
Sweepstakes:
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Don't do it. You can't loose if you don't play and you're more
likely to be elected to the US Congress than win a sweepstakes. Besides
being a virtually sure looser, the best reason to not enter a
sweepstakes is that the data you give to enter will be sold to junk
mailers and junk callers. For example, one sweepstakes entry form directed participants to its website to get information on its privacy policy. In turn, that website directed visitors to seven other websites which required an entrant interested in that privacy policy to read about 2,015 words. At an average reading speed of 225 wpm, that's about 9 minutes of reading. Tucked away on one of those websites are the following 11 words;
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Making donations:
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A charity can make more from selling its list of donors that it
makes from donations. If you are on a donor list you'll be
flooded by junk mail from a variety of charities. When you give,
don't let the charity know who is making the donation. You can do this
by using a bank money order, signing it illegibly and sending it in an
envelope without a return address. Keep the money order's stub for tax
purposes. [top] |
Toll free (800) numbers:
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When you call a toll free telephone number, the firm you call
gets a record of the phone number you called from. There is no way to
block that information from going to the called firm. And once the that
firm has you number, it can append your name and address to it, in
order to send you junk mail. If you are going to call a toll free
number, you may want to consider using a pay phone. [top] |