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gopher access have been chosen locally. Other than suchformatting and index
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all information below in this file is theresponsibility of the PRC, and any
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regarding that informationshould be directed to the PRC at:Phone: 619-298-3396
(800-773-7748 Calif. only)Fax: 619-260-4753E-mail: prc@teetot.acusd.edu..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Privacy
Rights
ClearinghouseFact Sheet #4 Junk Mail: How Did They All Get My Address?
While
your mother may have told you that a person's mail isprivate, in this day
of
computerized mailing lists, your name andaddress certainly aren't. Chances
are,
your mailbox isoverflowing with catalogs, sale notices, prize offers and
other"
deals" which you never requested and may not want.If you do not want others to
have
access to your name, addressand buying habits, or if you are tired of throwing
away
unwantedmail, there are several steps you can take to get off mailinglists.
You must
be persistent, and you won't get rid of it all.But you can substantially
reduce the
amount of junk mail youreceive.How did I get on these lists in the first
place?
How can I getoff?Every time you provide your name and address to receive a
productor
service, there's a good chance you are being added to one ormore mailing
lists. When
you buy a car, have a baby, make apurchase from a catalog, give money to a
charity
or fill out aproduct registration card, your name is likely to be entered intoa

computer data base.Public records. When you make virtually any major
lifestylechange, a government agency records the event. Many such filesare
open to
the public, including: birth certificates, marriagelicenses, home sales records,
and the
Post Office's change ofaddress form. Public records are one way companies
selling baby
items, for example, can mail advertisements to new parents justdays after the
birth of
a child. Mail-reduction tips. You usually cannot have governmentrecords
about
you kept confidential. Therefore, contact companiesindividually when they put you
on a
mailing list compiled frompublic records. For example, if you buy a house and
receive
homeimprove-ment and insurance solicitations you do not want, you cando three
things:
(1) Write to the company and ask to be taken offits mailing list. (2)
Envelopes with
"Address CorrectionRequested" or "Return Postage Guaranteed" can be
returnedunopened by writing "Refused--Return to Sender" on the envelope.The
company will
have to pay the return postage. (3) If there isa postage-paid return envelope,
put all
of the information in thereturn envelope with a note that you wish to have
your
nameremoved from the mailing list.The Post Office makes its change of address
file
available tomajor mailing list companies. To avoid receiving solicitations
aimed at
"new movers," contact friends, family and companies withwhom you do business
directly
and do not fill out the PostOffice's change of address form.Mail order,
credit cards
and magazines. If you are on the mailinglist of one mail order company, you are
likely
to be on the listof several. Most mail order firms "rent" their mailing list
toother
businesses. Many credit card companies also rent theirmailing lists, as do
magazines.
Therefore, if you subscribe to acooking magazine, you may find yourself
receiving
mail ordercatalogs for kitchen supplies and food specialties. Mail-
reduction
tips. Write to the Direct MarketingAssociation's (DMA) Mail Preference
Service,
P.O. Box 9008,Farmingdale, NY 11735. Tell the DMA you do not want to
receivecatalogs and other promotional material through the mail. Theywill put
you
into the "delete" file which is sent to the DMA'smember organizations four times
a year.
Companies that do not participate in the Direct MarketingAssociation
program
must be contacted directly. Notify thecompany's customer service department
and
request that your nameand address not be provided to other companies. Be
sure
tocontact magazines to which you subscribe as well as charities,nonprofit
organizations and community groups to which you haveeither donated money or
joined.
Many credit card companies will delete your name from the liststhey rent and
sometimes
even from the list they use to send theirown promotional materials to their
customer
s. (They will,however, continue to send you your bill.) Write to the customer
service
department and request your name be removed from thelists they rent to others
and from
their "in-house" mailing list.Credit bureaus. Companies with whom you do
business
provideinformation to credit bureaus on how much you owe, how promptlyyou pay
your
bills and the types of purchases you make. Whilemany credit bureaus rent
lists, they
do not disclose specificinformation such as what you owe or to whom. Rather,
they
compilelists based on consumer characteristics. An example would be alist of
people
who have an income of over $30,000 a year, usecredit cards and pay their
bills on
time. If you fall into acategory such as this, you may receive "pre-approved"
credit
cardoffers in the mail. Mail-reduction tips. The three major credit reporting
firmsare: Equifax, Trans Union and TRW. Write to each and ask to beremoved
from
their marketing mailing lists. o Equifax Options, Equifax Marketing
Decision
Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 740123, Atlanta, GA 30374-0123. o Trans
Union -
555 West Adams St., 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60661. o TRW, Target

Marketing Services Division, Attn: Mail Preference Service,


901 N.
International Parkway, Suite 191, Richardson, TX75081.Registration cards. Be

aware that warranty or "productregistration" cards have less to do with


warranties
than they dowith mailing lists. These cards may ask you what hobbies you
have,
how many people are in your household and your householdincome--information
the
company obviously does not require toguarantee the product.Such registration
cards
are generally not mailed to the companythat manufactured the product, but to a
post
office box of theNational Demographics and Lifestyles Company in Denver,
Colorado.This
company compiles buyer profiles and sells the information toother companies for
marketing
purposes. Mail-reduction tips. When you buy a product, don't fill outthe
product
registration card. In most cases your receipt ensuresthat you are covered by the
warranty
if the product is defective.If you decide to send the registration card, include
only
minimalinformation--name, address, date of purchase and product serialnumber.
(For some products you may want the company to have arecord of your purchase
in case
there is a safety recall.)Also, write to National Demographics and Lifestyles and
ask
themto delete you from their mailing lists: National Demographics andLifestyles,

List Order Department, 1621 18th Street, Suite 300Denver, Colorado 80202.Price

scanners. A new way of compiling mailing lists and buyerprofiles is through


price
scanners. Scanners help businesses keeptrack of their inventory and speed
service at
the check-outcounter. They can also be used to link your name to your
purchases
, especially if you are using the store's "buyers club"card.When this card is
"swiped"
through the card reader at the check-out stand, your name and address, stored in
the
card's magneticstrip, are matched against a record of the scanned items.
Storesgenerally offer product discounts as an incentive to use thecard.The
store
may use this information to mail coupons and otherspecial offers to you and
share
the information with productmanufacturers. So, for example, if you buy one type
of
soda atthe grocery store you might receive coupons from a rival softdrink
company
to induce you to switch brands. Mail-reduction tips. If you do not want
information
compiledabout your personal buying habits through the use of price
scanners, don't
participate in the store's "buyers club." You mayalso want to pay cash at
businesses
which use scanners, sincetechnology may allow the company to store your name
and
addressif you pay by check or credit card.Phone books. If you are listed in
the
White Pages of thetelephone book, your name, address and phone number are, for

allpractical purposes, public record. Mailing list companies collectthis


information
and sell it to mail order companies andmarketing firms. In addition to
the
White Pages, the phonecompany and other companies compile directories
organized
byaddress and phone number rather than by name. If you are listedin the White
Pages,
you are also in one or more of these "streetaddress directories." Mail-
reduction
tips. If you are concerned about keeping yourname and address private, consider
having an
unlisted number. Orrequest that the local phone company publish just your name
andphone number and omit your address. In addition, ask the phonecompany to

remove your listing from its "street addressdirectory." Also, write to


the
major directory companies andrequest that your listing be removed: o
Haines
& Co., Criss-Cross Directory, 2382 East Walnut Ave., Fullerton,

CA 92631. o R. L. Polk & Co., List Compilation & Development, 6400

Monroe Blvd., Taylor, MI 48180-1814. o Rueben H. Donnelley Corp., 287


Bowman Ave
., Purchase, NY 10577.Mailing list companies. There are a number of
companies
whichpurchase and collect information from government records,telephone
books,
association membership rosters and othersources. They compile mailing
lists and sel
l them for marketingpurposes. Mail-reduction tips. To be removed from the
lists
of themajor companies that sell mailing lists, write to these firms: o
R.L.
Polk & Company, List Compilation & Development, 6400 Monroe Blvd.,
Taylor,
MI 48180-1814. o Donnelley Marketing, Inc., Data Base Operations, 1235

"N" Ave., Nevada, IA 50201-1419. o Metromail Corp., List Maintenance,


901
West Bond, Lincoln, NE 68521. o Database America, Comp.
Dept., 100
Paragon Dr., Montvale, NJ 07645-0419. o Dunn & Bradstreet,
Customer
Svc., 899 Eaton Ave., Bethleham, PA 18025.What if I only want to stop
part
of my junk mail?Junk mail is only junk when you don't want to receive it. You may
want
to be on some mailing lists.If you want to receive some of this mail, do not
contact
theDirect Marketing Association and ask to be taken off all mailinglists.
Rather,
notify companies individually and tell them youwant your name removed from their
lists.
Also, tell the companiesyou do business with to keep your name and address
private.
Agrowing number of businesses which rent their mailing lists areincluding
statements
in their catalogs to let you know you havethis option.For more informationJoin
the
Stop Junk Mail Association. The SJMA provides a mailinglist name deletion
service for
its members and lobbies on behalfof postal privacy rights. For more information
on SJMA
services,write to: 3020 Bridgeway #150, Sausalito, CA 94965. (800) 827-5549.
Order
the informative 16-page booklet "Stop Junk Mail Forever" bysending $2.00 to Good
Advice
Press, P.O. Box 78, Elizaville, NY12523.The Direct Marketing Association has
free
brochures on directmarketing practices. Contact the DMA at 11 West 42nd St.,
NewYork, NY 10036-8096.For more information on junk mail and other
privacy-relatedissues, contact the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse hotline
at1-800-773-7748. NOTE: The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse does not rent,
sell or trade its mailing list with any other organization or
company.
Your name and address are kept completely confidential.......November 1992
......
Revised Feb. 1993

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