Interesting question has come up in the direct marketing industry.
The major posts provide the service of National Change of Address to citizens. You in the UK pay for it, so it is not used much. It is free in Germany, France, the US, Canada. The consumer fills out a form at the post with his old address and new address and the post forwards mail on to the new address. Also, large mailers, such as publishers, catalog companies, financial companies, etc. are encouraged to correct the addresses on their files before mailing. This saves the post money in handling badly addressed mail, and serves the consumer by keeping the company address databases current. The process is this: companies provide their lists to the posts or their licensees, who run programs that compare the files and either provide the new addresses to the company against the current entry held by the company. Most major posts require companies to do this within a short window before mailing to reduce "undeliverable as addressed" items in order for the company to qualify for various discounts.
In short, all the company gets back is a new address for someone already on the file.
The German post's legal department is now taking the position that the post can not send to the US the new address of someone currently on a US company's database as this is an export of personal data to a country that doesn't provide adequate protection.
Let us assume that the individual has previously consented to his name and address being with the US company, perhaps by making an enquiry or being a customer of that or another US company who has lawfully shared the name. Leaving aside the "adequate protection" debate, I would take the position that the individual has already consented to the export of his new address by a combination of (i) using the NCOA service, and (ii) being a customer of a US company abroad. In addition, doesn't the US company have an obligation to keep the data "up-to-date", and isn't the individual's providing the new address through this system an implied consent to assist in that? Isn't the legal department being a little overly conservative here?
It would be absurd to think that the US companies who do use the NCOA would join the Safe Harbor just to keep postal discounts, unless they had Germany as a major market, which very few do. The time and expense of doing so are too high for that.
I welcome non-Friday type comments.
Regards,
Charles Prescott
Charles A. Prescott
Vice President, International Business
Development & Government Affairs
Direct Marketing Association
1120 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
U.S.A.
Tel. +1-212-790-1552
Fax. +1-212-790-1499
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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