From: Robert Harrold 
To: 
Cc: 
Subject: Comments on your 'CONSUMER PRIVACY, CONTROL ISSUES COME TO A HEAD'
Date: Sunday, July 11, 1999 7:17 PM

To:    Mr. Ross Brown
         WebPromote.com

Fm:  Bob Harrold

(before sending this email to others,
 I'm sending it to you for comment.)
The paragraph I question is highlighted in bold further below.

I am disappointed in WebPromote's insinuation that I am "ilk."
(in the email from my inbox listed below:)
I subscribe to your WebPromote.com online newsletter.
My comments on your July 1999, volume 2, newletter are:

By definition:
ilk (noun) Type: "can't trust people of that ilk."
(pronoun) 'Scots.'  The same. Used following a
name to indicate that the one named resides in
an area bearing the same name:  "Duncan of that
ilk. [Middle English, same, from Old English 'ilca.']

In Modern English connotes, in addition to the literal
meaning, a related or attendant negative condition,
bias, or untrustworthy association.

I am forwarding this email to some of my 'fellow
travelers,' and others who may dwell in that
nefarious "ilk" to which your refer.  And, to some
others who may not be aware of your posture as
exposed in your (WebPromote.com) email.

It is important that instances of apparent callous
disregard and distain for the privacy concerns of
our ilk, held by some from other domains (no pun
intended,) be answered.

The tone of your newsletter's email to us, of the
"ilk," excerpted below my signature, is disheartening
to the those who hold well founded concerns regarding
our rights of privacy.  Concerns, held by those
of our "ilk," individuals and groups alike.

One should not 'pooh-pooh off' nor otherwise
minimize the dangers of aggregating, using,
and disseminating bio/psycho/demo/histographic
information as exemplified by your very own newsletter
which often quotes or refers to statistics and sources
of data, much of which has been gathered without the
knowledge or consent in or outside the "ilk" region.

One does not automatically give another the right to information
by merely exposing it, as it is in this email:  my name, email
address, residence area, IP routing, etc.  Nor is it implied
that any such exposed information is being offered for profit.
A reasonable expectation of privacy holds.

I have never been paid for any of my personal,
medical, residential, spending, or internet
information.  However; when you, and those
of your "ilk" (not offended?) pay me a commission
or royalty fee for each time any information that's
related to me, my family, business, or household
is bought/sold/accessed/traded/bartered/exchanged/
given away/used or abused by anyone, including
the medical, insurance, e-commerce community,
or the government AND who first asks for and
receives my permission:

a.  before attempting to obtain it or seek its existence
b.  by disclosing its origin and legitimate basis to gather
c.  to obtain it
d.  to aggregate it among others' information
e.  to use it
f.  to disclose it
g.  to profit from it.

I might then be otherwise disposed.

Bob Harrold
El Centro, CA
- --
rharrold@harrold.org -or- rharrold@juno.com
http://www.harrold.org/rfhextra/privacy.html

----  FROM MY eMail INBOX --------------------------------------
>
W e b P r o m o t e W e e k l y
        July 1999: Volume 2
  < http://www.WebPromote.com >
>
With more than 400,000 subscribers, WebPromote Weekly
is the leading website-marketing newsletter. Feel free
to forward this newsletter to your interested associates.
To modify your subscription, please see
Subscription Services below.
>
               ~~~~~ IN THIS ISSUE ~~~~~
>
*  WHAT'S THE BUZZ?
       (...)
>
>
################################################################
>
         ~~~~~ WHAT'S THE BUZZ? ~~~~~
        < www.WebPromote.com >
>
*  CONSUMER PRIVACY, CONTROL ISSUES COME TO A HEAD
Efforts to ensure that consumers have control of their privacy
on the Internet have been making a lot of news in the past two weeks.
First privacy advocates blasted a corporate merger they say threatens
consumer privacy, and then a leading scientific association said
consumer anonymity is vital to the Internet's sustained development.
>
In late June, privacy advocate Junkbusters < www.junkbusters.com >
sent letters to Abacus Direct stockholders and to Abacus and DoubleClick
executives urging them not to merge (see June 1999 Vol. 4 WebPromote Weekly
June 1999 Vol. 4. )
> 
The merger of the catalog database company and the online
advertising company "is the most dangerous assault against anonymity on the
Internet since the Intel Processor serial number," said Junkbusters
president Jason Catlett. "By synchronizing cookies with name and address
from email, registrations and e-commerce transactions, the merged
company would have a surveillance database of Orwellian proportions."
>
The letters were also signed by Marc Rotenberg, executive
director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
 < www.epic.org >,
 and
Simon Davies, director-general of Privacy International
< www.privacy.org/pi >. The letters were also sent to
some members of Congress and to staff of the Federal Trade
Commission. The privacy groups' objections were covered
by The New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, Wired, CNET,
and many other online media outlets.
>

>
The conference concluded that online anonymous communication
should be considered a strong human and constitutional right, and that
individuals should be informed about the extent to which their identity
is disclosed online.
>
According to Wired News, the study concluded that governments
should be wary of regulation that would limit how people conceal their
identities on the Internet. Regulations could prevent the proliferation
of open electronic communications and electronic commerce.
>
The study authors acknowledged that anonymity allows for abuses
such as spam, hate mail, child pornography and financial fraud. The
study recommended online communities set their own policies on the
use of anonymous communication to help prevent these offenses, Wired
reported.  The authors also indicated that Internet users should
know the extent to which their identity is disclosed online.
>
*  MARKETING BASED ON PRIVACY
Some vendors offer Internet marketing services based on
consumer privacy. For example, the email campaign management company
yesmail.com < www.yesmail.com > last week announced the launch
of My.YesMail,
< http://my.yesmail.com > a new set of shopping tools that
helps consumers select and control the kinds of messages they want
to receive and how they want to receive them.
>
"Consumers are extremely frustrated with the epidemic of
unsolicited email and they're looking for a simple solution," said Dave
Tolmie, yesmail.com's chief executive officer. "yesmail.com is in the
business of providing consumers with the tools necessary to organize
their email boxes--from controlling the type and frequency of incoming
email to filtering out spam messages."
>
The My.YesMail tools consist of My.Interests, which allows
consumer to choose to receive information from more than 1,000
categories, such as architecture, employment, sports,
and financial services;
My.Subscriptions, which helps consumers manage their e-zine
subscriptions by automatically unsubscribing to e-zines they
are no longer interested in; and
My.Events, a personal calendar keeper
that helps consumers remember birthdays, holidays and other events,
and emails them reminders and gift suggestions.
>
*  BEST PRACTICES
Email marketing only to consumers who have given their
permission to receive messages is not only responsible, but it's also
extremely effective. In this issue, WebPromote Weekly brings you other
examples of effective Internet marketing. "Revamping Jaguar Online"
reveals how Ogilvyone Worldwide helped Jaguar bring its website in line
with its corporate image and expand its direct marketing capabilities.
And "The Winning Testimonial Formula" tells you how to get testimonials
that will give your business credibility.
>
By Ross Brown eMail
>
>
>
#################################################################

The above email from Ross Brown was replied to
at the top of this document by:
>
Robert F. (Bob) Harrold II
rharrold@harrold.org -or- rharrold@juno.com
http://www.harrold.org/rfhextra/privacy.html
ICQ UIN# 3257495 & AOL AIM name is rfharrold
Pro-Life Is. Pro-Choice Is Not.
Control Criminals not Guns.