Freeview competition/research I did a while back have sent my email address to everyone on their mailing list and I am Not Happy

[AnarchyAunt]

They have emailed me (which is fine in itself as I said they could) but they have listed all the email addresses they have replied to at the top of the email.

Mine is my real name and I didn't really want it sent to a few hundred other people

mine too but i think it would be hard for people to find out your mumsnet name from the email. she has sent an apology. its easily done, our local police officer did this recently in one of the neighbour hood watch emails!

I wondered about that as I got it too and could see everyone's emails (and they mine). That said my real name etc/mumsenet name and email address have nothing in common.

Mine is up there too AA and I was a bit shocked - a lot of people have their real names up. It is not ok at all.

Yes I was waiting for the apology when I saw this..

Easily done, Bonkerz? Not by someone with half a brain.

See this other thread too.

I know its not linked to my MN name but thats not the point. I trusted them with my 'official' email as it was a competition entry as well. I don't want it spammed to buggery, or my real name given to everyone else who did the survey.

Really really unprofessional IMO.

like i said our local police officer did this with all the neighbourhood watch people in our district! thats why i said its easily done! If police do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its still not the point.

Easily done or not, they have a responsibility to take data protection seriously. It should be absolutely basic when sending out an email like this to avoid listing all the recipients' addresses.

I had one as well - it said something about me having agreed to take part in further promotional activity which I don't actually have any memory of doing. I took part in the Freeview thing here, but as far as I knew, that was the limit of it.

Very annoying and easily preventable when you know how.

A friend used to block the other names on the email list by using an Outlook funktion. Does anyone know how to do that?

I had this too.
I didn't have a clue what it was about at first. they could have written a more professional email , saying what she was talking about, instead of assuming we'd have a clue who her colleague was. And then to have open addresses.
Sheesh... Pr agencies these days

I'd have thought someone working for a PR company would know how to do that!

I had it too. Deleted it because it didn't look like an official email, thought it was spam lol!
Didn't see the email addresses until i looked again after 2nd email. Had to click too see them on gmail. Luckily email not in my real name but is my MN name!

i don't remember putting my email address on the viewtrition thing anyway, i recall thinking it was a shit idea...have mailed to be removed from their list and that no i have not had further contact from Jo Drake (or whoever it was)

bcc

it is a crime i think. data protection act.

silly and common mistake but could be really serious

AA - I am with you in your anger - I posted on the other thread. Not something I would expect from MN. And I do hold them to account for this

yes am annoyed, it has my real name

and I DIDN'T take part, I just won vouchers

and I have bugger all desire to promote freeview or any other tv related stuff.

Actually there is a different question here which is: does the fact that we participated in the survey/competition give Jilly at Nelson Bostock and external PR company who clearly have little or no regard for privacy the right to contact us? I think not.

Am royally pissed off, I get about 200 spam messages a day.

To quote Nelson Bostock's website:

'But before we start telling you about the agency, what we do and who we do it for (and there's plenty to tell), we'd like to talk about what makes us that little bit different.

Quite simply, it's our people. We believe passionately that the most successful way of winning minds for our clients is to pack the agency with Winning Minds of our own.'

Winning minds?

agree whomoved

It IS spam as far as I am concerned. I didn't say I'd take part in PR, I can't abide tv anyway.

got this email too, edlted it automatically as assumed it was spam, have since gone back and retrieved it to read properly and now conclude that I was right the first time, not v impressed

I had this email too and wondered where it had come from. I don't remember the survey. Was it a MN thing then?

Has anyone bothered to tell MNHQ about this yet? Am off to do so.

I am phoning the company in the morning to complain.

It is in specific contradiction of the law: here

The bits silly-Jilly should have read:
--------
If you're planning a marketing campaign, you'll have to comply with a number of regulations.

Electronic mail marketing
The most important thing to remember is that you can only carry out unsolicited electronic marketing if the person you're targeting has given you their permission.

However, there is an exception to this rule. Known as the 'soft opt-in' it applies if the following conditions are met;

where you've obtained a person's details in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale of a product or service;
where the messages are only marketing similiar products or services; and
where the person is given a simple opportunity to refuse marketing when their details are collected, and if they don't opt out at this point, are given a simple way to do so in future messages
When you send an electronic marketing message, you must tell the recipient who you are and provide a valid contact address.

In summary, we recommend that your marketing campaigns are always permission-based and you explain clearly what a person's details will be used for. Provide a simple way for them to opt out of marketing messages and have a system in place for dealing with complaints.