Sending mail to the wrong person, part eleventy

Another person has written another blog post talking about their experiences with an email address a lot of people add to mailing lists without actually owning the email address. In this case the address isn’t a person’s name, but is rather just what happens when you type across rows on they keyboard.
These are similar suggestions to those I (and others) have made in the past. It all boils down to allow people who never signed up for your list, even if someone gave you their email address, to tell you ‘This isn’t me.” A simple link in the mail, and a process to stop all mail to that address (and confirm it is true if someone tries to give it to you again), will stop a lot of unwanted and unasked for email.

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Verifying addresses after POS collection

Collecting email addresses at point of sale is a challenge. Some stores collect the addresses electronically, where the clerk or the customer types addresses directly into the register. Smaller stores, however, typically collect addresses on a sheet of paper at the cash register. Eventually someone takes the list and types it into whatever contact management system the store maintains.
There are all sorts of errors that can happen when someone types in an address, but those errors are only compounded when the addresses are written on a sheet of paper for later transcription. Not all of us have perfect, copperplate handwriting and many of us have barely legible scribbles. In one case I had a sender read the tag in my email address wrong causing all their mail to me to bounce.
One person found an interesting solution to the problem of illegible addresses: using Facebook’s lookup to clarify illegible addresses.

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Do you have child subscribers?

Al has a short, but informative, post up on Spam Resource about privacy groups filing complaints with the FTC about companies violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Companies who are alleged to have violated COPPA include Nickelodeon, McDonalds and General Mills.
The underlying issue appears to be the presence of “send to a friend” links maintained on kid focused websites. The consumer advocates are alleging that kids don’t understand that when they send things to their friends what they’re sending is actually advertising.
I talk a lot about informed consent, but don’t often touch the idea of consent from minors. But this is a good reminder that there are other laws than CAN SPAM involved when dealing with children.

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