June 22, 2003
When you opt-in, don't forget to opt-out
In Sydney, according to an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, small businesses, "particularly pubs, clubs and restaurants are sending SMS promotions to cusomers who reveal their mobile phone number, cell phone users are cautioned to be careful where they leave their contact details".
Mobile perators are offering small business software for sending out multiple text messages at low rates. And though the Australian Direct Marketing Association last week introduced a code which prohibits unsolicited SMS messages, it only applies to its 500 members, most of whom are big corporations, according to smh.com.
Leaving your number as an opt-in for a marketing promotion of a product you are interested could probably end-up on someone's else's list, if you forget to opt-out. Early June, a French company called Claritas, specialized in collecting millions of postal and e-mail addresses for targeted customers, sent out a press release announcing that their mobile phone number listing was available to mobile marketing agencies. Their database is made up of 130'000 mobile numbers collected during a yearly consummer research study. I'm not sure those taking that survey released their mobile phone number would be for rent one day, for 0,25 euro (25 cents).
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2003/06/000921.htm