Putting a Stop to Solicitations

The Direct Marketing Assn., the direct mail industry’s trade group, upon request will remove the names of people who do not wish to receive solicitations. Association officials caution, however, that requests will result in a person’s name being removed from all lists, from catalogs to charities. It takes six to eight weeks to take effect.

The address of the Mail Preference Service is P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008.

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse at the Center for Public Interest Law at the University of San Diego found in 1995 that not all direct marketing companies use the service. And consumers who responded to any solicitation, from catalogs to nonprofits, quickly found their names on other lists being rented. The Privacy Rights study also found that consumers had the most difficult time getting their names off the lists of nonprofit and political direct mail lists.