Archive for the ‘Opt Out’ Category

Getting Off Mailing Lists

Friday, June 12th, 2009

The Direct Marketing Association is a trade association for businesses. They maintain a Mail Preference Service that lets you opt out of receiving unsolicited direct mail marketing from many national companies for five years. When you register with this service, your name will be put on a “delete” file and made available to direct mail marketers.

How to register for Mail Preference Service
Go to https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/static/learn_more.jsp. While there is no charge, you will be asked for a credit card number to validate your identity and mailing address when registering.

If you want to stop mail from being sent to a deceased individual you’ll need to register for the Deceased Do Not Contact List.

If you want to manage mail sent to a dependent in your care, you’ll need to register for the Do Not Contact for Caregivers List.

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Getting Off Telephone Call Lists

Friday, June 12th, 2009

The National Do Not Call Registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission to make it easier and more efficient to stop receiving unwanted telemarketing calls.   It’s easy to add your phone number to the Registry:

  1. Go to the website:  www.donotcall.gov, or
  2. Call toll-free: 888-382-1222 from the number you wish to register

Once a number has been on the registry for 31 days, most telemarketing calls will stop. However, not all calls are covered. You may still get:

  • Calls from, or on behalf of, political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors
  • Calls from companies where there is an existing business relationship. A company may call for 18 months after a purchase or three months after you make an inquiry or submit an application
  • Calls from companies that have been given permission to call

Once you have been on the registry for 31 days, you may file a complaint if you continue to receive calls from a telemarketer. That can be done by going online to www.donotcall.gov or by calling 888-382-1222. You will be asked to provide the date of the call and the phone number or name of the company that called.

If you want to be removed from charitable solicitation lists, courteously ask the representative who calls to remove your name from their list. Most will do so.

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Getting Off Commercial Email Lists

Friday, June 12th, 2009

The Direct Marketing Association has an Email Preference Service to help you reduce unsolicited commercial emails.

How to register for Email Preference Service (EMPS)

Go to http://www.ims-dm.com/cgi/offemaillist.php. Your online request will be effective for one year.

Although registration with EMPS will help reduce the number of emails you receive, it will not stop all commercial emails. You may continue to receive emails from groups or advertisers who do not use EMPS to clean their lists. Email of a business-to-business nature received at your place of employment is also not affected through registration with EMPS.

Most email programs now offer effective “spam blocker” programs. Make sure your settings will block the emails you don’t want—and admit the emails you do.

Don’t unsubscribe to individual emails
Submitting an unsubscribe request can be used against you—your email address may be confirmed by or sold to spammers. When this happens, your spam will increase when you thought you’d submitted an unsubscribe request.

Avoid spiders
When you forward emails to long lists of recipients, those addresses are accessible to “spiders”—programs that roam the Web, harvesting addresses to sell to spammers. When you’re sending an email to a group of people, send it to yourself and blind copy (bcc) anyone you wish to receive it.

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