The U.S. Postal Service is promoting its online Click-N-Ship product by sending spam to customers – in apparent violation of its loophole-ridden privacy policy and certainly the spirit of federal law – according to a pair of antispam activists who say they have received the unsolicited e-mail.
John Levine, a consultant, author and holder of leadership positions in various antispam organizations, reports on his blog: “The message did not have the postal mailing address of the sender (pretty ironic, huh?) nor opt-out instructions, both of which are mandatory under CAN SPAM. Did the USPS break the law?”
Paul Hoffman, director of the VPN Consortium and an IETF regular, says he received the same spam. “Regardless of whether or not it was legal, it is bad business, and it turns off orders of magnitude more customers than it attracts,” he says. “Whoever at USPS organized this mailing should be summarily fired.”
The Postal Service has yet to return my phone call asking for comment, but here’s what its Web site says about privacy: “If you are a consumer, we use an opt-in standard. If you have provided personal information to register for or purchase a product or service, we will not use that information to contact you in the future about another product or service unless you have provided express consent. . . . If you are a business, we use an opt-out standard.
Hoffman says he used a personal e-mail address.
Lumps of coal all around for those responsible.
Subject line of the e-mail in my in-box: Special membership offer from WITI.
The acronym didn’t register immediately, so I opened it up to take a look:
“Dear Paul: When I started WITI in 1989, I had four objectives: 1. Advancing women by providing direct access to a global network of professional, tech-savvy women committed to collaboration, not competition; 2. Transforming corporate environments to level the playing field for women; 3. Increasing the number of women at top executive levels; and, 4. Encouraging girls to select careers in technology.”
Admirable goals all – but, me? A member of Women in Technology International?
Perhaps there was some mistake; maybe the e-mail was intended for a Paula McNamara, not Paul (it’s happened).
The e-mail continues: “WITI is totally committed to helping you succeed at every level. . . . The only thing we ask of you is to show up. We offer a supportive, woman-rich environment to help you break through to the next level.”
So I went to the organization’s Web site looking for a sign that men are indeed welcome, and while it took some searching, there it was buried deep within the About WITI section under WITI demographics.
Gender Breakdown: Female: 94.2%; Male: 5.8%.
First thought: Yes, men can join. Second thought: They aren’t kidding about the “woman-rich environment” – that’s just shy of 20-to-1 one by my reckoning.
It gets better, at least if you’re the type of man who enjoys interacting with smart, successful women in both professional and perhaps personal settings: four in 10 WITI members hold advanced educational degrees, about half own their own businesses or hold executive positions . . . and an equal number earn six-figure salaries.
Now I know what some of you are thinking: How dare this cad turn something as serious and important as WITI into just another excuse to make advances?
Try not to judge me so harshly. For one thing, I’m a happily married father of three who’s not joining anything any time soon except maybe the PTA. And I am quite certain that the 5.8% of the WITI membership that is male had nothing but the purest of professional motivations for joining.
I’m just saying . . . if you’re a single IT guy . . . and you’re looking for a professional organization to join to round out the resume . . . you could do a lot worse.
Other invites to buzz@nww.com.
