Friday, June 6, 2014

Canadian Privacy Legislation

Occasionally somebody passes a law that makes my life markedly better.  Occasionally.

In the US, the TCPA (comprehensive report by the LUC Consumer Antitrust Institute) did that until a combination of loopholes and limited enforcement seems to have rendered it basically useless (my opinion, based on anecdotal experience from spending holidays working from home).

Re: loopholes, according to the FTC:

4. What types of calls are not covered by the National Do Not Call Registry?

The do not call provisions do not cover calls from political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors, or companies with which a consumer has an existing business relationship. 

Canada has enacted new anti-spam legislation.  I just received this e-mail from a car dealer I had pinged a year or so ago:
Due to the new Privacy act legislation and to respect your privacy, we need your consent to keep our communications going with you as a valued customer. You, as a consumer, have the option to opt in or out.
Please permit us to reach out to you electronically by clicking on the link below.

I say "bravo."  A complete reset of all of my half-baked opt-in decisions.  Too bad (1) I only have one relationship of which I am aware with a Canadian merchant, and (2) this particular auto dealer may have been the least annoying I've ever interacted with.

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