Usually, we here at Privacy Council give you information about spam, scams and computer viruses that might compromise your personal privacy and the health of your computer. But in light of recent news, we’d like to devote this post to the Swine Flu and what precautions you can take to protect yourself and your family from this virus. After all, keeping your family safe from the Swine Flu isn’t that different from keeping your files safe from a computer virus: It’s all about taking precautions.

First, the stuff you already know. Swine Flu is spreading. The virus originated in Mexico and has since spread around the globe, with UPI reporting at least 148 cases worldwide and an increased alert level from the World Health Organization (up to a level 5, which is the highest it’s been since the 6-level system was put into place in 2005). Nearly 100 cases were reported in 11 U.S. states as of this morning, 51 of which are in New York. According to Bloomberg.com, the government has begun to warn of school closings and increased precautions (in Texas, several school districts are already closed, and high school sporting events have been canceled for more than 1 million students). Many deaths in Mexico are blamed on Swine Flu, though the exact number is something of a mystery. Drug companies are working on vaccines and stepping up production of antivirals, and everyone is bracing for the next announcement about how this disease is spreading. So if you weren’t taking it seriously before, it might be time to start. Like a virulent computer bug, this one spreads best via those who don’t take the right precautions to prevent it.

There are ways to protect yourself and your family from this virus. It is, after all, the flu, albeit a new and particularly brutal strain. Five to 20 percent of Americans catch the “regular” flu each year, and 36,000 Americans die from it, so while hospitalizations and deaths are expected from the Swine Flu, we can’t pretend that it’s causing the only flu-related deaths we’ve ever experienced. And since the Swine Flu spreads like the seasonal flu, hand washing, healthy living, good hygiene and a measure of caution are excellent precautions against catching it.

You know how we always remind you not to click on strange links, open files that are attached to strange emails, or give away your sensitive data to strangers? And how we encourage the use of anti-virus software to keep your files safe? That sort of common-sense behavior works the same for avoiding the flu: Don’t touch something if you don’t know where it came from or how clean it is, minimize contact with others, and keep your own hands as clean as possible.

Here are some flu-prevention tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others: Wash your hands with soap frequently, and encourage your family to do the same. Don’t shake hands with others or touch surfaces (such as desks, public phones and other communal surfaces) if you can help it. Avoid being in the proximity of anyone with a cough or sneeze, especially those who don’t bother to cover it. Cover your own coughs or sneezes with a tissue, and wash your hands after you cough or sneeze. Don’t touch your face, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. since viruses spread very easily through contact with the face. Take care of your overall health by eating right, staying active and getting enough sleep. And of course, stay home if you start feeling sick, and keep kids home from school if they start showing symptoms.  

What should you do if you DO have symptoms (which include a fever, cough, sore throat, headaches, body aches, chills, fatigue and occasionally diarrhea and vomiting)?  Stay home, get rest and drink plenty of fluids. Antivirals, available from your doctor, can help take the edge off the worst of it and help you get better faster. But if you or your kids start having difficulty breathing, or if you have confusion, dizziness or persistent vomiting, get to the hospital. This is not something to mess around with.

Be cautious, be safe, and keep washing those hands. And next time, we’ll be back to our usual tips on protecting your privacy and the environment, including signing up for the Privacy Council’s List Removal Service. You know, the one that takes you off the major marketing lists and cuts your junk mail to almost nothing… Feel free to sign up now while you’re thinking about it, and stay healthy!

Happy Spring! The weather is getting warmer, the flowers are blooming, and “a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,” as Tennyson said. Weddings are in the air this week, with celebrities such as Danica McKellar and David Letterman settling down, and “regular” people planning their own knot-tying events. It’s a time to celebrate, but also to be cautious. If you’re planning a wedding and you’re already diving into party preparations and white dress shopping, don’t forget a few tips to protect yourself, your privacy and the environment.

1. Your home – If a wedding announcement is in the newspaper, it essentially tells thieves that the houses belonging to the happy couple, their parents, and other people mentioned in the announcement will be empty during the ceremony and reception. After all, everyone will be celebrating the nuptials. Consider asking a friend or neighbor to watch or sit in the house while you’re gone, just to be safe. If you don’t know anyone who could do the job, local off-duty police officers are sometimes available for a fee.

2. Your email, phone number and postal mail – Wedding planning can mean filling out registries, signing up for offers, going to bridal shows, joining websites… As you navigate the maze of available resources and information, make sure you don’t fill out any requests for your address, phone number or email without knowing how the information will be used. Some contests, vendors and websites will take your information and resell it to third parties who will then use it to bombard you with unwanted communication. If there’s a “send me information” box, make sure it’s not checked. If the fine print says that the company or website can sell your info, don’t give it to them. The odds of winning that honeymoon in Hawaii are far less than the odds that your inbox will be slammed with spam.

3. Your impact on the environment- Many brides are beginning to use electronic invitations, or e-vites, to invite friends and family members to the big event. Since e-vites don’t use paper, they’re far more environmentally-friendly than embossed, gilded paper invites. And they cost little to nothing, unlike paper invitations. If you want your wedding to be as green as possible, e-vites are the way to go. Use a search engine to find one of the many e-vite providers that will work best for you (note: you might want to follow up with phone calls for guests who don’t reply to the e-vite, in case their spam filters are set at high security levels).

4. Your identity- The e-vite idea is great for Mother Earth, but you should probably stop short of posting all of your wedding info on a public website or forum. Many brides create entire websites devoted to their own weddings, but this can backfire significantly. The more you put out there for anyone to see, the easier it is for thieves to steal your identity.

Think of it this way: If you post that Betty Smith is marrying Bob Brown on April 3 in Betty’s hometown of Redbud, IL, and you mention that the couple’s beloved dog, Skipper, will be in the ceremony, and you include the detail about how the bridesmaid’s dresses are Betty’s favorite shade of purple, and you gush about how the couple is so perfect for each other right down to their June birthdays being just a week apart, then you’ve just given thieves almost everything they need to hack a bank or email account. Most sites use security questions such as pet’s name, hometown, birthday, high school mascot and favorite color, all of which were just posted on the wedding website. If you must post information about a wedding to a public site, keep the info as vague and short as possible, and don’t include details that can be used by identity thieves.

5. Your gifts (and your guests’ identities) - When you get married, you get presents. LOTS of presents. And many of those come in the form of personal checks written out to the happy couple. If you’re having a wedding and you receive checks in advance, deposit them as quickly as possible so that they don’t sit around the house to get lost or accidentally thrown out. During the ceremony and reception, have someone appointed as a “gift monitor” to collect and keep watch over the checks and other gifts you receive. That will help minimize the chance that an uninvited guest could attend your party and find a way to slip checks or other small items into his or her pockets. A check stolen by a thief can sometimes be altered and rewritten for a larger amount and to a different recipient, which would create a big banking headache for the person who originally intended to give the check to the bride and groom.

If your ceremony or reception is held in a public place (restaurant, convention center, etc.), you might consider making an announcement telling your guests not to leave their purses or wallets unattended. In a venue where anyone can wander in and pretend to belong, the chance of theft can go up. No one wants to arrive to a wedding as a guest but leave as a victim.

Maybe celebrities do it right when they keep their weddings secret until AFTER the fact! But for the rest of us, a measure of caution and thought in planning for weddings can protect our privacy, our possessions, and our planet.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Privacy Council’s list removal service… Start your life together on a junk-mail-free note!

One of the things we at Privacy Council strive to combat is unsolicited telemarketing phone calls. Few people enjoy receiving calls from telemarketers, which is why the national Do Not Call registry is so popular. Now, there’s a new tool in the arsenal to fight telemarketers and other unwanted calls: TrapCall.

TrapCall is a free service from NJ-based company TelTech that identifies the source of the blocked calls you receive to your cell phone. According to sources like lifehacker, when you miss a call (or choose not to answer it), this service forwards the call to TrapCall’s toll-free number. TrapCall deciphers the source of the call and sends it back to your phone, this time with the source number in plain sight. Then, you can choose whether to answer it or not (ignoring it this time will take the call to your regular voicemail). The caller never knows about this process; they hear only ringing on their end.

As Gizmodo notes, TrapCall’s upgraded (not free) options include recording incoming calls (which cell technology has never been able to do before), voice mail transcription, and other features (the “Mouse Trap” and “Bear Trap” options). They also point out that the only way to defeat TrapCall is with TelTech’s other notable service, SpoofCard (what a surprise). 

Does it work? Yep, according to those who have tried it. Does it have any flaws? A few: TrapCall isn’t available on all carriers yet, for one thing. For another, call blocking has long been one of the methods of defense for victims of domestic abuse and others who must hide their identity for safety reasons, and TrapCall could out those victims. But that’s a consideration for another time. For now, TrapCall works, and it’s gaining popularity.

At Privacy Council, we strive to put an end to unwanted SPAM, junk mail and phone calls. TrapCall may help with the phone calls, but don’t forget to sign up for Privacy Council’s list removal service today to cut down on the rest of the unwanted communication that annoys you (and harms the environment)!

After all of the articles I’ve written about privacy, security and avoiding the perils of the web, I have at last experienced some of the headache firsthand. My laptop caught a virus, and while it turned out to be nothing major (at least so far), my experience reiterates the need for good protection against what lurks on the Internet, waiting to make trouble.

First, let me say that I had Norton 360 installed on my laptop. I downloaded and installed the latest version in August, but sometime in the last month or so, it abruptly stopped working. I didn’t notice the lack of protection, however, until my laptop started performing oddly. Start-ups took longer and longer (and frequently froze up), and websites took longer to load. But the final straw was last week, when I tried to run Google searches. Each time I got a page of results from a given search, my attempts to visit the resulting links were redirected to full-page ads for a variety of offers and services. It was maddening. I could type URLs into the browser and go directly to them, but my efforts to click on Google results ended up with ads for “free ipods” and “Victoria’s Secret gift cards.” I was frustrated.

Worse, I didn’t know where the offensive programs had come from. I never click on questionable links, in email or otherwise. I almost never download software; the last time I’d downloaded any was a year ago, and it was from a reputable source. Also, no one else uses my computer, so it was impossible that another user had downloaded something questionable without my knowledge. I wondered if a virus piggybacked onto an email I’d received from someone I trusted, and it bothered me that I couldn’t know for sure. But whatever the source, I was now stuck with a problem. And my attempts to run Norton 360 led to my discovery that, somehow, it had stopped running. What should I do now? Was it even safe for me to send email to anyone? Had the virus made its way onto my jump drive when I’d backed up my photo files? Was my identity safe, or had someone accessed my personal information from my comptuer? I needed to make things right with my laptop, and fast.

I went to the Norton websiteand purchased Norton AntiVirus 2009 for immediate download. I figured, this should take care of my problem! But the problem didn’t want me to take care of it. My attempts to download the software failed because of a “communications error.” I followed all of the troubleshooting advice on the site to no avail. Finally, I found a phone number to call, and after a few minutes, I was on the line with a customer service rep. I felt vaguely bad for the guy… I reported both the problems with Norton 360 and the problem with downloading Norton AntiVirus 2009, and he wasn’t sure which problem to deal with. Finally, we decided to go for the Antivirus, which he told me can’t coexist on the same computer as 360 anyway. Figures.

He walked me through wiping my laptop of all Norton products and attempting another download. Again, it failed. He set up a connection between us and tried to help me download it from his end. Still no dice. Finally, he had to download the program to HIS computer and send it to mine via the connection. I was on hold the entire time the program creeped across the miles, all 56 Mb of it. On the upside, the rep was very nice and clearly stymied by my computer’s efforts to thwart him; I felt like apologizing for the laptop’s bad behavior. Every time he asked me to restart the machine, it took me several tries to get past the freeze-ups and delays.

Eventually, the program was on my desktop, and the rep installed it remotely. He started the scan running, and now that I’d spent an hour on the phone with the guy, we disconnected with some satisfaction. He DID say that he would try to get me a refund for the Norton 360 that had failed me, since I didn’t want to pay for something that hadn’t worked. I have yet to see the refund, but since he gave me a confirmation number for the transaction, I have high hopes that I can track it down, if necessary.

The Norton AntiVirus 2009 scan turned up the culprit: a Trojan virus was crawling through my computer. Norton zapped that bug with no trouble, and I settled back to enjoy a blissful, virus-free computer experience. But then, suddenly, Internet Explorer windows started to randomly pop open, each one a full-screen ad for everything from Proactiv to, surprisingly, Norton itself. Internet Explorer didn’t even have to be open for the ads to appear, blocking everything on the screen. They were easily closed, but they kept coming back. But Norton didn’t see a problem. I did another update, restarted the computer, and did another scan, but nothing turned up. The windows kept popping open.

I searched for answers on Google (now that my Google search was working again), and I saw that other people had had this problem, and that Norton hadn’t recognized it. The fix, many said, was long and arduous, including downloading more security software, starting up in safe mode, and jumping through a variety of flaming hoops. I was beaten down at the thought. I considered the ads to be more annoying than threatening, and I gave some thought to just letting them continue to appear. But then, I talked to my boyfriend, who suggested another solution: Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware product. He said that the free download found far more hidden problems on his own computer than Norton had, so I decided to give it a try.

The Ad-Aware site was deliberately confusing, unfortunately. The company wants to sell the upgraded service, so while the basic Ad-Aware product is free, the means of getting to the free download are distracting and aimed at driving the sale. I accidentally clicked on the wrong button not once but twice, on two separate pages, in my efforts to reach the free download. I got frustrated, as you might imagine. My boyfriend had the misfortune of being on the phone with me at the time, so he got to hear my annoyance firsthand. But in the end, I got the download right, and I started an Ad-Aware scan.

The scan turned up another bug, one that Norton had missed. It completed the fix for me at my request, and since then, the computer has run more smoothly, more quickly, and completely without pop-up ads and unwanted Internet Explorer windows. For the moment, I feel like my laptop is back to normal, and I’m breathing a little easier. At last.

So what have we learned from this little adventure? First (and always), make sure you have good antivirus software installed. Norton is just fine, and obviously their customer service is available if you need it (don’t hesitate to call them if you do). Second, never click on questionable links or open or run files from unknown senders, EVER (and make sure that any other users on your computer don’t download anything without your knowledge). Third, if your computer starts acting strangely, look into it. Don’t assume that it will “correct itself,” because it will only get worse. And fourth, don’t give up if you get frustrated or have a hard time fixing the problem on your own. That’s what the experts are for. If you do everything right and it still doesn’t work, find a phone number for the company and make the call to get some help. In the meantime, do your own research into your problem so you can be informed, even if it just means Googling something like “unwanted Internet Explorer pop-up virus.” You don’t have to be a computer genius to educate yourself about spyware, adware, malware, viruses, worms and other nasties that trouble us.

I was lucky in that the software that got onto my laptop didn’t seem to be after my private information or out to destroy my machine. It was annoying for me in that I had always tried to follow my own advice with online security, and I still ended up having to deal with it. But in the end, I learned a lot, and now, there’s not a pop-up ad in sight.

We’ve posted many articles about the headaches caused by email spam. But when you think about it, the spam messages we all get in our email inboxes can be as amusing as they are annoying. After all, the ads for “increasing your size” or “cleansing your colon” are often peppered with ridiculous claims, odd grammar, and bizarre mental pictures. If we take a minute to ignore the hassle of spam and read even just the subject lines of the messages, we can find some great sources of humor. And now, artists are beginning to use spam as a medium for their creations, with funny and often beautiful results.

First, consider Janet Nelson, whom we learned about via Art News Blog. She’s behind the “A Planet Named Janet” blog, and she uses spam subject lines to create single-panel comics. The series of cartoons, called “Innocent Spam,” reinterprets spam subjects in more family-friendly, hilarious ways. As Janet herself says on her page, “Wouldn’t it be nice if all spam were innocent?” She places the cartoons into her blog periodically, so be sure to visit her site if you’d like a few laughs at the expense of clueless spammers. 

Also, check out Linzie Hunter and her series of Spam One Liners. We found this artist through Art News Blog, as well, and her use of spam subject lines is just as entertaining and creative as Janet Nelson’s. Linzie is a U.K. artist who turns spam subject lines into colorful, playful postcards and prints. She recently released a book of her creations, called Secret Weapon: 30 Hand Painted Spam Postcards (link goes to Amazon.com, where the book retailed for $9.95 as of 1/4/08). According to her bio on Amazon.com, she enjoys traditional print-making and book-binding when she’s not creating digital freelance artwork for a variety of clients (or making beautiful pieces of art from the unsolicited emails in her inbox).

Finally, don’t miss Alex Dragulescu, a computer artist who grows digital ”spam plants.” As we learned from both Alex’s site and CNET, Alex created algorithms that analyze the data and text contained within spam email messages and then create plantlike artwork from the findings. The spam plants expand and develop based on the spam that comes through the system, a process that Alex notes can serve to illustrate how technology changes art. As he told CNET, ”My efforts (have been) to expose the ubiquitous forms in which data and technology are both actively and passively shaping the ways we perceive and construct ourselves and others.” And for Alex, it all started with the spam messages that annoy and frustrate the rest of us. He claims that spam led him to see text differently, and the artistic creations that bloom from his algorithms are delightfully unique, thanks to spammers trying to unload everything from shady prescriptions to knockoff watches.  

With the rest of us struggling to handle the onslaught of unsolicited email messages, it’s good to know that some people are turning the annoyance of spam into creations of beauty, humor and art. So the next time you shudder at the thought of your email inbox, maybe you should consider buying some paintbrushes or grabbing a sketching pencil and unleashing your own creative side.

Sources for this article: A Planet Named Janet, Art News Blog, Linzie Hunter’s webpage, CNET, Alex Dragulescu’s page

Text messages on our cell phones make everything more convenient. Banking is no exception, and many banks now offer text message alerts and updates, such as notifications when our balances are low. Mobile banking makes many people’s lives easier. But of course, with this convenient technology comes another means of stealing your identity, and you must be careful not to fall for the latest tricks.

Recent reports indicate a rise in text message phishing. Phishing, for those not in the know, means sending messages that claim to be from banks or other financial institutions and which use fear and urgency (”Your account will be closed immediately unless you respond”) to try to trick victims into giving up their sensitive information. Cell phone text messaging had already become an avenue for spam messages, which are annoying but not particularly dangerous from an identity theft perspective. Now, the combination of spam texts and illegal intent has led to a rise in text messages that try to provoke a response. The response that the phishers want contains your Social Security number, bank account number or other private information. It’s the same old thieves wearing a newer, cooler costume.

The most recent major text-message phishing scam was reported nationwide just a few weeks ago. In this particular effort, phishers sent untold numbers of bogus text messages, claiming to represent U.S. Bank. The messages said, “Dear US Bank member, your account with us is closed due to unusual activity, call us at [number withheld].” The recipients represented customers of various cell phone providers and were not necessarily U.S. Bank customers. Like many email phishing schemes, this one had a broad scope in the hopes of getting a few victims to nibble at the bait. It’s difficult to know how many people fell for the scam, but the three return phone numbers that were known to be used in the phishing texts have been shut down by the state.

Banks, meanwhile, must now work to make sure that customers who benefit from their mobile banking services aren’t burned by the same technology. U.S. Bank issued a statement shortly after the phishing attempts were reported, reminding account holders that U.S. Bank does not request sensitive information via email, phone call or text message. CIBC, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, is one of many financial institutions providing additional information online about phishing, including ways to check for an email’s legitimacy and ways to report fraudulent communications. Most banking websites include safety and security information for consumers, even if consumers don’t always read or heed the warnings.

The advice, of course, has been heard before: treat suspicious texts the same way you treat suspicious emails. Don’t reply, don’t call any phone numbers listed, and don’t go to any websites suggested in the message. If you do receive a message claiming to be from your bank, call your local bank office or a trusted customer service representative (using a number you already know to be valid) to investigate the issue. Remember, no bank is immune to being used as text-phishing bait (Oregon-based Bank of the Cascades was used as a phishing front several months ago, for example, so scammers aren’t limiting their phishing efforts to national banks), and no cell-phone-toting consumer is immune from the potential attack.

If you still have doubts about mobile banking, you can elect to discontinue it entirely. As IdentityTheft.com noted, mobile banking has many pros (including ease of use, free updates and no account numbers sent in text messages), but it also has many cons (including potential lack of encryption, lack of security and lack of anti-virus software in some phones). The site notes that the technology is still fairly new and untested and suggests asking both the bank and the cell phone provider about the security of the systems used before signing on for mobile banking, just in case. When in doubt, consumers can just skip the mobile updates and do their banking the old-fashioned way (well, as old-fashioned as “online” can be). That way, ANY text messages that claim to represent the bank can be known as fraudulent the minute they arrive on one’s phone.

Sources for this article: Minneapolis Star Tribune, CIBC, IdentityTheft.com, ConsumerAffairs.com

Ah, spam. The annoying cyber-pollution that crams our inboxes has prompted most of us to use filters to keep the unsolicited ads out of our email. But as spammers have gotten more savvy with their wording and spam filters have had to become more restrictive to keep up, ordinary emails are getting caught more and more often by the sweeping net of the junk email box, and ordinary emailers are being placed on blacklists that they might not even realize they’re on.

Consider the case of James McGrath Morris, who publishes an email newsletter called “The Biographer’s Craft.” When some of his readers were not receiving the newsletter, he ran his copy through a spam checker. Use of the phrases “young adult” (as in literature), “getting nasty” (referring to a legal matter) and “hot” (in reference to what’s popular in books) were red flags, so to many spam filters, his content was questionable enough to block it from those at the other end of the email stream. Context was irrelevant.

Or consider Mike Fratto, a writer at InformationWeek.com who reported that one of the site’s visitors was having trouble forwarding spam to the FTC’s spam reporting email address (spam@uce.gov) because the forward was — what else? — blocked by a spam filter. The same email, when forwarded to Mike himself, also ended up in the junk email folder.

It’s reasonable to expect some normal emails to fall into the spam filter through unlucky phrasing, but the problem has begun to increase. When Morris asked a professional about lowering his spam-check score, the answer was simple: he just had to censor himself and change any questionable phrases to different ones. But that, as he notes, creates a slippery slope as spam filters try to keep up with more sophisticated junk email onslaughts. “If I surrender those words now,” he writes, “what might I be asked to give up next month?” He muses about ordinary writers becoming stymied in their craft when spam filters trip them up for using phrases like “beastly behavior,” Lolita” or “swelling ranks of investors.” Those who write and distribute email newsletters are fighting a battle of words against software, with strict self-censorship as a result. Writers have had to begun to write for the filters, not for the audience.

In addition to screening for key words and phrases, some filters also check for “bad reputations” from mail servers and IP addresses. If a given server or IP address has been used by spammers, it could end up on a list that makes content from that server or IP address automatically questionable to spam filters. These lists change constantly, and as Fratto notes, it’s hard to get one’s server or IP address removed from the list. Morris experienced this sort of frustrating filtering when his IP address turned up on a list of questionable sources at www.spamhaus.org. The Spamhaus Project claims to maintain the list free of charge to keep email administrators in the loop on spam sources, but Morris hadn’t sent any spam from his IP address. Later, when he checked his IP address again, it was no longer on the list, or on any other lists he checked.

These sorts of restrictive filtering and quiet blacklisting are an obvious problem with spam filters today. What complicates matters is that the person sending the email might not know that their IP address or server is on a black list (the list keepers don’t notify those who are listed; they just maintain the lists), and those who receive an email that is labeled a spam message may never see it, as it’s usually diverted into a junk mail folder or deleted entirely without notifying the recipient. In my own case, Yahoo! puts my spam into a junk mail folder and tells me when I have new messages there, but it’s up to me to wade through the hundreds of spam emails I receive in a day to make sure that no legitimate email is being sent there in error. If I delete the contents of the spam folder, they’re gone, bypassing the “trash” folder completely and going out into the ether. 

And to add insult to injury, many spam messages still slip by the filters and into my inbox.

What can be done to make spam filters and blacklists more aware of context and intent in email? Not much, unless we’re willing to open up the restrictions and allow more spam to reach our inboxes as a result. The price of protection from unsolicited advertising in our email is that some emails will be filtered that shouldn’t be. So which is more important: access to the information, or protection from the noise? For now, that’s an individual choice. You can help the filters perform at their best by putting desired addresses on your email “approved” list, removing yourself from as many spam lists as possible, and checking your junk mail box periodically to see if any legit messages fall through the cracks.

The vast majority of emails sent today are spam… We just have to do what we can to make sure that the filters we use don’t eventually consider ALL email spam.

Sources for this article: InformationWeek, The Hartford Courant, The Spamhaus Project

The latest news in the fight on junk mail: a mailman is taking sides in the battle.

Steven Padgett, a mailman in Apex, NC, received probation in federal court last week for refusing to deliver junk mail to the people on his route. For at least seven years, he took the junk mail home, stored it in his garage, and buried it in his backyard, rather than drag it along on his mail deliveries. The 58-year-old mailman has diabetes and heart problems. According to his attorney, he was overwhelmed by the “torrents of direct advertising mail” he was forced to deal with, so in his efforts to be the best possible mailman he could be, he opted not to deliver the junk mail.

Not a single person on ”Mailman Steve’s” route of hundreds of residents complained about the lack of junk mail they were receiving over the past several years. In fact, when the neighborhood was notified of his crime, only one person responded, and that was to defend and thank Padgett for his work. The local newspaper, the Raleigh News and Observer, also received a flood of support for Padgett. Some people even requested that he be made the mailman in THEIR neighborhoods. By all accounts, he was widely regarded as a great mailman and a nice guy, friendly to new residents and careful with packages.

The Direct Marketing Association, of course, was not pleased by Padgett’s moves to spare the homes on his route from junk mail. The DMA boasts 3,400 members and sees direct mail as a way to get coupons and deals to the customers. The DMA’s public affairs director, Sandy Cutts, noted that eight out of ten people look at their junk mail, and many take advantage of the advertised deals. Cutts also asked that it not be called “junk” mail. The Postal Service doesn’t call it “junk” mail, either; the term is “standard mail,” and it makes up about half of the overall mail sent (and about a third of the Postal Service’s revenue).   

Padgett got away with his efforts until a utility worker near his home noticed the mail bins stacking up and alerted the authorities. Padgett was charged with delaying and destroying U.S. mail, a federal offense. His crime could have earned him five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but instead, the judge sentenced him to three years of probation, a fine of $3,000 and 500 hours of community service. As the judge put it, “You’ll get credit for a life well lived.” Padgett is no longer employed with the Postal Service, of course.

So is Padgett a hero or a villain? It depends on whom you ask. We at Privacy Council support the reduction of junk mail, but stockpiling it after the postage has been paid is obviously not the best method for dealing with it! We can’t condone interfering with the process of the mail. We can, however, remove you from the DMA’s mailing lists so that less junk mail is sent in the first place. This reduces the flood of annoying advertising and assures that less waste ends up in landfills….including those in our own backyards.

Sources for this article: The LA Times

Some good news on the spam front this month: worldwide spam was cut in half when a single web hosting firm was shut down, The Washington Post reported. McColo Corp, a company based in San Jose, California (but claiming a Delaware mailing address), allegedly operated servers that sent spam messages for various international groups. These clients, in turn, were behind activities ranging from managing compromised computers to selling fake drugs and other goods online. When the plug was finally pulled by McColo’s Internet providers, security researchers reported a drop in spam traffic that ranged from 60 to 75 percent across the globe.

It seems amazing that a single firm can be responsible for so much spam traffic. Security researchers have been watching McColo and collecting evidence of wrongdoing for over a year, and they were the ones who eventually brought the evidence to McColo’s ISPs and asked for the shutdown. U.S. law enforcement officials aren’t giving statements about the case or about the potential repercussions for McColo’s spamming actions. After all, firms like McColo provide a service, and they frequently claim ignorance when a client misuses that service, making them tough to blame for annoyances like spam traffic. Shutting them down is frequently difficult, because as frustrating as spam is, it isn’t illegal. In this case, McColo might have broken no laws, and they haven’t been charged with any crime. The spam decrease, however, is a welcome change for the companies and consumers who monitor its traffic. 

Of course, the respite won’t last; experts caution that the slowdown in spam is only temporary because other servers will start taking up the slack. In fact, you might have noticed your spam inbox filling up once again with the usual assortment of ads and scams. But we can take some hope from this case, at least. Everyone from the security professional to the average consumer is fed up with spam, and finally, some steps are being taken to help curtail it. Perhaps more pressure from a frustrated community could help to shut down additional spam servers worldwide, or perhaps a “Do Not Spam” list will eventually be created to spare our accounts from the onslaught. With annoying sales pitches, false advertising and identity-stealing scams peppering our email accounts daily, a change can’t come too soon.  

Sources for this article: The Washington Post. Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net.

The holidays are coming, and that means more unsolicited catalogs and direct mail offers crammed into your mailbox than ever. While unsolicited mail is annoying at any time of year, the flood of junk mail usually hits hardest in November and December, all in the hopes that you’ll make holiday purchases from the piles of possible vendors that the postman delivers to you. I remember watching my parents sort through a stack of catalogs that was two, sometimes three feet tall each winter. And that was just the catalogs they chose to browse through; most of the offers that came in the mail went straight into the trash.

Privacy Council wants you to know just how much waste is due to junk mail and catalogs. In a given year, it’s estimated that 19 billion catalogs are mailed to consumers. Of those, 5.6 million tons of catalogs and direct mail ads are put into landfills. That’s so much waste that it’s hard to comprehend! According to Worldwatch Institute (as quoted at Carbonrally.com), the United States has 5 percent of the world’s population, but consumes 30 percent of the world’s paper. Can we recycle it? Sure, but according to the Center for a New American Dream, only 22 percent of junk mail is recycled today. Besides, that doesn’t even begin to address the energy and trees used in making all the junk mail in the first place, then recycling it later. It’s a blow to the environment on several fronts, but you can do something about it.

First, sign up for Privacy Council’s environmentally-friendly service and get yourself removed from the major catalog mailing lists. This will drastically cut the amount of junk mail you receive, so you’ll know you’re doing your part to reduce the paper waste. How much waste can you personally help to prevent? Estimates indicate that, on average, consumers receive 110 catalogs per household per year, so over ten years, you could help to keep more than a thousand catalogs from ending up in a landfill. That makes a real difference.

Also, make sure that you aren’t granting companies the right to sell your contact information to mailing lists when you sign up for a new product or service (check the fine print and opt-out whenever possible). Finally, if you still want to receive a few specific catalogs during the holidays, contact those companies directly and ask them to send you their catalogs, perhaps at a lesser pace (instead of four or five catalogs per company during the holiday season, for example, the company could send you just one or two catalogs). 

‘Tis the season to be festive, but don’t forget about the environment!   

Sources for this article: Center for a New American Dream, Carbonrally, The Virginia Gazette