A simple and fast way to opt out of mailing and email lists: DMAchoice
DMAchoice allows you to opt out of receiving unsolicited mailings and emails, reducing the value of your personal information and increasing your privacy protection.
Intro to mailing lists
One of the primary ways our personal information is continuously exposed is by marketing companies that buy and sell lists of potential customers (also known as leads). These lists contain your personal information, such as your name, email address, phone number, and address, as well as demographic information that makes your data more valuable (for example, age, income, hobbies, etc.).
The more “valuable” you are as a potential customer, the more likely your personal information will make its way onto these lists, and your information will be bought and sold to companies who want to market to you.
It’s not only legitimate companies that can buy these marketing lists; bad actors can also purchase them and use them for malicious purposes.
To reduce your exposure and minimize the frequency of your information being bought and sold in this manner, I recommend that you remove your information from as many lists as possible.
One thing you can do is that whenever possible, you should opt out of marketing for any company that you do business with, in particular financial services companies like banks, investment firms, and loan companies. I have a series of posts on this topic, which you can find on https://onlinesafety.substack.com by searching for “privacy settings”. One of these posts is linked just below.
DMAchoice: something simple you can do now
I’m a big fan of simple, quick, and easy steps that you can do to improve your privacy incrementally.
Signing up for DMAchoice to opt out of commercial mailing and email lists is a great example of something easy and fast that provides ongoing protection.
DMAchoice is run by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). ANA is a nonprofit organization that provides services to help consumers express their marketing preferences to participating companies and organizations. This costs a few dollars ($6), but will reduce the promotional mail offers from companies you don’t have a relationship with.
DMAchoice estimates that signing up reduces the number of these types of promotions by 80%, which means you and your information are much less valuable to the companies that engage in this practice. This, in turn, means your information will appear in fewer places, thereby increasing your privacy.
Opt out of mailing lists:
Visit https://www.dmachoice.org/register.php and complete the registration form. You can add multiple versions of your name and multiple addresses.
There is also an option to register using mail (costs $7), with details on the website linked above.
As part of the online form, you will need to create an account using an email address and a password.
Once you sign up and pay ($6), your information will be protected for 10 years.
You can access your account and update your name and address information if it ever changes to maintain your protection (and you don’t have ot pay again).
Opt out of email lists:
Go to https://www.ims-dm.com/cgi/optoutemps.php, and enter your email address for inclusion in the Email Preference Service (eMPS) list, which reduces unsolicited commercial email messages.
It’s free. Just enter the email you want to protect.
You will receive an email confirmation with a verification link to confirm your submission.
Other options with DMAChoice
You can opt out a family member using the Caretaker’s Registration form at https://www.ims-dm.com/cgi/dncc.php. This is a great way to protect family members who may be more susceptible to falling for unsolicited marketing.
You can register a deceased person’s information onto the Deceased Do Not Contact List at https://www.ims-dm.com/cgi/ddnc.php.
Stay Safe!
Tate
And, don’t forget all the trees that we save!