Today I got an email from a business in Northern Ireland that I had bought from almost a year ago. I was horrified to see the email address for every customer they had at the top of the email.

Of course I sent them a “clearly worded” email pointing out the error of their ways. I really don’t think they meant to spam their entire customer database so thoroughly, but the application of a little common sense would have helped them avoid such a terrible faux-pas.

When you collect personal information from a customer, you do so with certain conditions. One of those conditions is that you are bound by the Privacy Act (in New Zealand anyway). However, you are also bound by common sense.

Be Specific
If you say that you are collecting this information so that you can send them messages about your new breakfast spread, then that’s what you should send. At the very least the information you collect should be for a purpose that is related to what your business or organisation does.

Lawful Purpose
You shouldn’t be collecting and storing information for any illegal purposes. But then, you don’t do that sort of thing do you!

Declare Yourself
The person giving the information should be in no doubt about who is collecting the information, where it is stored and who will be using the information.

Cherish the Information
If you collect the information, you are also legally obliged to take care of it and keep it safe against “loss, access, use, modification, disclosure” and “other misuse”. If you accidentally send out an email with all the recipients shown, you will find yourself on the sharp end of the Privacy Act!

Time Runs Out
Also according to the Privacy Act you can only store the information for as long as you need it for the purpose you stated. Common sense should tell you that if you have names on your database who are more than a year or so old since their last contact, you have a tenuous relationship with them at best!

The best way to think about your responsibilities around your customers’ privacy is to think like one of your customers. Would you like to get an email from a business that showed all their customers at the top? Ok, as a competitor that might be a great email to get, but as a customer you would feel violated.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on your own privacy and your customers’s privacy and whether you think there is a difference….. email me here.

By Anna Curnow
Internet Strategist