Protecting Your Privacy - Part I

From my weekly (AM) radio segment titled "Legal Minute".


Technology can be a blessing but it’s a curse when it comes to preserving our personal privacy. Let’s start with spam – one of the most common and intrusive privacy violations. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 was a win for consumers. CAN-SPAM stands for the title of the law: Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act. The Act sets forth strict requirements for those who send commercial email, imposes penalties for spammers who violate the law and for companies whose products are promoted by spammers. It also gives consumers rights to ask emailers to stop spamming them. The FTC is the nation’s consumer protection agency and is charged with enforcing CAN-SPAM along with the Department of Justice. The most we can do to protect ourselves from spam is to keep our email address unlisted. There is no such thing as a National Do Not Email Registry- the FTC confirms that it’s a scam. Send problematic spam to the can by filing a complaint at www.FTC.gov.