Is there an answer to the rising levels of daily spam?
by Fred Roed on 21/07/11 at 3:00 pm
5 comments
South Africa needs a solid direct marketing opt-out service, but the current outlook is not good. There are movements afoot that you need to be aware of, and a potential solution that Ideate believes might be an answer to the rising level of spam we face on a daily basis. We only have until 29 July to make sure we get a better national opt-out registry.
We all know the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) came into effect on 1 April this year – we reported on it here and here. In short, the CPA protects our right to privacy. Believe it or not, we actually have the right to ‘opt-out’ of direct marketing. Most people will have encountered direct marketing in the form of a random phone call from somebody wanting to offer you a new mobile phone service or funeral cover. What’s going on behind the scenes is that our personal information is being sold, businesses are constantly interrupting our lives and we are just too familiar with daily SMS spam.
The situation is out of control and we are looking to the CPA for a way out. The supposed solution is something called an ‘opt-out registry’; a database of people who have chosen not to receive spam messages via phone, email or post. Once you’re on it, it becomes illegal for spammers to contact you – and you will be able to legally take action. Now, it so happens that the management of this opt-out registry was put out to tender earlier in the year – in other words, someone needs to look after this database and ensure that your details are in safe hands.
Fox guarding the chicken coop?
Now read this: The National Consumer Commission (NCC) gazetted a notice this month, stating that they are going to name the Direct Marketing Association (DMASA) as the national opt-out registry operator, unless we submit comments and objections before 29 July.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that putting the direct marketers in charge of our national anti-spam protection may not be the best idea.
It turns out the DMA has been operating an opt-out service since 2006. Given our current levels of spam, it’s obviously not been working very well. Their opt-out service requires you to submit your ID number. Earlier this year their entire database of 39000 people was leaked. This amounts to an identity theft nightmare. Just yesterday, it was reported that their website had been hacked. This, in my opinion, is some scary stuff, and personally I’m not that keen to trust these guys with my personal information. Read more here: “Rewarding the DMA for incompetence“.
To a casual observer such as myself, it appears there is a conflict of interest here. Why would an organisation representing the interests of the direct marketing industry want to offer me a way to opt-out of direct marketing?
The National Opt-Out Registry we want
It is my opinion that the national opt-out registry should be run by neutral and trusted party. It should be easy for people to use the service and the right awareness should be created. It must be a free service and it should be operated in a transparent and efficient way. It’s hard to see this happening unless we take some action.
So, how do I take action?
So, after scratching around, it seems that industry bodies can submit formal objections to what’s going on. Details in this notice: NOTICE 460 OF 2011
It’s one thing to complain, but another to find a solution. So here’s my suggestion: Sign up for another alternative. You may remember a talk at a recent Heavy Chef session (run by my digital marketing agency World Wide Creative) by Joe Botha about a new Cape Town startup called TrustFabric. They launched a new service in June which lets you manage your business relationships and communication preferences. The signup process is quick and easy and they already have about 1000 users (seems like they reached a tipping point yesterday with all the noise on Twitter about it). My opinion? I’d MUCH rather see someone like TrustFabric look after the opt-out registry than the DMA.
Their explainer video:
Admittedly, at Ideate, we’re big fans of TrustFabric since the Heavy Chef Session last month, but we’re not the only ones. Read what Tyler Reed had to say on his blog yesterday: TrustFabric - Most Ambitious Startup Ever?
So, what are you waiting for? Get off your butt and do something so we don’t get spammed to oblivion.
[UPDATE: Turns out that TrustFabric are in fact putting forward a proposal to manage the national opt-out registry. All the more reason to make a noise about this.]
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. Fred is the CEO of web marketing company World Wide Creative and the co-founder of online learning portal Heavy Chef. Fred loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. Follow Fred on Twitter here. View more articles by Fred Roed.
Tags: consumer protection act, cpa, direct marketing, Joe Botha, Trustfabric
Matt
Jul 22nd, 2011
I have been astounded when dealing with the DMASA in terms of how incompetent they are, it really worries me that they will be custodians of the national opt out.
I have also come across some form of relationship that exists between the DMASA and a private company that sells consumer lists, the DMASA were used to endorse their activities to a client which seems to invalidate their neutrality.
So my question is how do we organize ourselves into some form of united opposition as opposed to trying to oppose this as individuals?
Mike
Jul 22nd, 2011
Hi Fred,
Interesting read, but I wonder seriously how effective any register is going to be. Fundamentally 99% of the SPAM that is generated is done by organisations that are not part of any association. They are simply hyperlinked super stores.
When one looks at the SPAM that arrives I would suggest that you will find that most are going to fall outside of the capture net. Sure there will be attempts to prosecute but we simply do not have the legal where-with-all to tackle the SPAM.
Technically the number of SPAM suppliers and dedicated servers is growing exponentially and while the ISP community do their best to stop it, it boils down to the fact that this is probably go to be a way of life for sometime.
The ACT as it pertains to Direct Marketing is administratively intensive and not enforceable. While the responsible marketers will adhere to the letter of law, they in the most part already do, the unscrupulous ones will never.
The irony is that the very people that should be protected, cause much of their own grief by dealing with these businesses.
As an aside the consumer apathy around signing up to the registry is going to be the biggest hurdle. The drafters of the legislation knew this as the clause which says “A Direct Marketer must assume that a comprehensive pre-emptive block as been registered by a consumer” remains in effect. Effectively, unless an organisation can show physical proof that they the consumer has given them permission to market to them, then they will not be able to conclude any direct marketing.
While I support your call to have an independent body, I am not sure that I would agree that the members of the DMSA will do any worse job than the independent organisation. One may argue that self regulation providers a strong grounding as opposed to a legislated but unenforceable environment.
For the record I think that the administrative safe guards within the DMSA need some serious review.
Fred Roed
Jul 22nd, 2011
Mike, I think your point about the registry’s effectiveness is a valid one – which is exactly why we need to look at a better method. A system such as TrustFabric’s does provide a form of self-regulation, which is mentioned in your comment.
I agree that, in the short term, spam is pretty much something that will be part of our lives. However, It’s up to us to decide if we want to fight it in the mid-to long-term. I’m hoping that consumer apathy will be less pervasive than you say.
Joe
Jul 22nd, 2011
Hi Mike
I’m not so sure about the self regulation logic. If you read the DMA’s code of conduct it seems pretty relaxed and you would have to go research their track record of self regulation.
The CPA improves upon the ECT act giving the opt-out registry legal relevance. It’s the best legal support we have until the POPI bill becomes law.
Martin Slabbert
Jul 25th, 2011
I agree that it is very, very problematic to put the DMA in charge of the opt out register. But at the same time, why should I trust one single service provider with all of my details? How do I know that Trust Fabric is secure, if people like Anonymous have managed to hack more than a Gigs worth of data from NATO? If Trust Fabric is hacked, I would be screwed! I guess the proof would be in the pudding; convince me you are secure, and I will trust you.
The solution, I think, also lies in education and creating awareness about how we can stop people from spamming us. Also, in naming and shaming those corporations that still engage in this disgusting habit. (Just please don’t suggest “Hello Peter” – I have an issue with someone who accepts complaints on his site for free, but then charge corporates to respond to these queries.
How aware is the general public about the July 29 deadline? In my circle, almost no one knows about it. That is a really scary indictment.
Martin