Acxiom Frustrates Individuals' Opt-Out Requests
Robert Bulmash runs "Private Citizen," a for-profit company that assists people in protecting privacy by opting them out of direct marketing lists. Acxiom, a large data aggregator that sells personal information for direct marketing and to the government, has refused to accept Private Citizen's opt-out requests. The company claims that it wants to communicate with each individual personally, rather than allowing them to opt-out through Private Citizen.
In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and several Members of Congress, Bulmash wrote:
"For decades, the direct marketing industry and it associations have favored private sector mechanisms over government regulation in dealing with the consumer privacy issues. Yet, when Private Citizen, Inc. presents such a private sector mechanism to Acxiom, Acxiom diligently rejects it though the use of extraordinary clich�s."
He concludes by requesting an investigation into the practices of Acxiom:
"I believe it is time for Congress and the FTC to examine the actual practices of the database marketing industry, and its true commitment to privacy. With the recently amended Telemarketing Sales Rule in place, perhaps a companion opt-out law and regulation concerning the database marketing / junk mail industry is now appropriate."
Acxiom Opts Out of Opt-Out, Wired, November 17, 2003.
