Data Privacy Issue
 

I don't know if I'm doing the right thing posting this here... but I hope I'm forgiven if it's not!

When I joined FT I created a dedicated email address at one of my domains. This address is stored in my profile here, and receives Talkmail and the occasional message from a moderator, but it has never been used for anything else.

The FT Privacy Policy states that members' details are not passed on to third parties, and until this morning I never had any reason to doubt that FT adheres to this policy.

This morning my dedicated email address got spammed. It wasn't what I would call "criminal spam" - I wasn't being offered enhancement products, the spam hadn't been sent through a compromised server in China. It came from a travel company. But it was spam nevertheless. As they say in spam-fighting circles, spam isn't about conTent, it's about conSent. It seems that either someone has stolen addresses from FT's database, or FT has passed on my email address without my consent.

I am a little bit concerned...

Me too!
 

:mad: I received a travel spam mail this morning too. It also didn't have any of the usual 'you received this email because you indicated interested in xyz" or any unsubscribe information.

I'm obviously not happy to receive untargeted spam, can I opt out?

The SPAM came from a company called Internet Brands. This company recently purchased FlyerTalk from Randy Petersen. One can certainly expect IB to try and recoup the money they paid for FT, however:

• Sending SPAM to us was a truly bad business decision.
• Doing so after the porn ads and malware popups has made many of us lose trust in IB/FT.
• Misconfiguring the opt-out address was inexcusable (and illegal).
• Sending blatant SPAM that doesn't even try to let the recipient know the sender has anything to do with FT is totally stupid.

IB seems to be rapidly devaluing the good will it purchased from Randy. :(

I have been getting loads of SPAM subsequent to IB's purchase of FT. I have never used this email address for anything else, and I never got SPAM at this address before. Shame. :td:

And most of the mailings relate to penny stocks or organ enlargement.

Again, when IB bought and paid for FT they bought our information contained in the FT databases. Did you imagine IB would NOT monetize their investment in every way possible?

Randy ran FT like it was his passion because it was. IB will run FT like a business because it is.

All the other IBBs that I participate in that are run by businesses generate pop-ups, spam and every other possible ROI that internet companies can get. I dont begrudge them that and neither should anyone else. It's like sitting through commercials on free radio or TV. ^

I signed up with FT. I read the privacy statement (which said my details would not be passed on to third parties). I trusted that privacy statement.

Maybe it can be argued that IB is not a third party because they bought FT. I know US privacy laws are nowhere near as strict as privacy laws over here in the UK and that IB may well be acting within the law in the US. Here in the UK if you give someone your personal details for a specific purpose, and they use them for a different purpose, then they are committing an offence.

I appreciate that it is likely that no US law has been broken, but I am still not very happy.

I work in ad-supported TV. We would never send a virus to our audience's cable box - and we *certainly* wouldn't ignore it if one accidentally slipped through.

We'd also be much more responsive if people were complaining about porn advertising on our general interest networks, and more sensitive about trashing up an established brand.

Sorry - this is nothing like free TV.

Yup, SPAM from IBTravelDeals.com just showed up in my Inbox. As soon as it did, I came here wondering if others were getting it too. Clear that they are.

It just keeps getting better and better and better....

Edited to add: The optout address isn't working -- my email got bounced back to me. Is this how IB does business?

Details:

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. The following addresses failed:

<[email protected]>

SMTP error from remote server after RCPT command:
host mx3.internetbrands.com[207.212.172.6]:
560 5.7.1 <[email protected]>: Relay access denied

Good thing it's time for my morning shower. I feel some slime has gotten on me.

Aviatrix :
I have no idea what this problem may be. I do know that we have proudly guarded the gates of your privacy for a long number of years but recently did transfer that type of responsibility elsewhere. While there is some attention here to blame IB, I have asked their President as well as JohnMcQ to look in to this and report back to either me or the community on this thread. While i suspect there may be some dramatic antics by two members posting here, i do know that anything related to your privacy requires mine and anyone involved with FlyerTalk their highest priority.

I do hope we will be able to identify any actions that may have caused this but let's be reasonable and fair – there are any number of reasons these days that email addresses may be available including some viruses that attack email clients of some of our members thus making available anything in a member's email inbox as addresses.

I really don't know but know that there can be any number of reasons and from what limited powers we have in the tech area will devote both Joshua and Tim to see if there are any telltale signs from this end.

Again, i have invited IB forward to address this and let's hear what they might know.

CAN-SPAM is quite clear about providing a functioning Opt-Out.

Clearly the opt-out mechanism offered in the SPAM was not functional and thus a possible violation of the law (I need to point out that I am a Lay person and do not posses any qualifications to judge legality other than to make a guess from what I have read on the site that I have linked above).

Dan

Randy, I too used a unique email address in my domain when I subscribed and received the IB traveldeals SPAM to that email address. For the technically minded here is the header from the email that shows it came from internetbrands:

Received: from trav-mktg.internetbrands.com (mail.ibtraveldeals.com [207.212.174.236])
by barclay.textdrive.com (Postfix) with SMTP id A50C5FBC9C
for <[email protected]>; Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:32:47 +0000 (GMT)

Randy, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I know you don't like being personal and I think that's a good thing, but I don't understand the above comments.

When Disney bought ABC from Capital Cities in 1996 there was a distinct re-branding and refocusing of the channel. It was integrated into Disney's corporate brand and structure and things were done on and to ABC that would NEVER have happened under the Cap Cities ownership.

We're still seeing the results of that acquisition as MNF was moved to another DIS outlet just last year, for example.

Things change and evolve in the corporate world, and now that FT is being run as and by a 'conglomerate' internet business a few things will change. But my point is that that is ok. IB is a very successful internet IBB company and they understand their business. I for one trust them and appreciate that they will bring FT to a slightly different place than we are used to. One that may create some inconveniences here and there but that will ultimately allow FT to continue to grow and expand.

And that's a GOOD thing! ^

PS, I certainly hope that this opinion is not considered an antic! :(

Edited to add: BTW, fwiw, I just checked and the IB email was already set to go to my bulk folder...probably from participating on another board that IB owns...

Randy:

No dramatics. Just some serious disappointment. You now have headers from 2 sources proving these emails came from IB. I hope that helps in your investigation.

--Rich

I don't think there are any dramatic antics at all going on here. What has been brought up here is a legitimate complaint.

The addresses we used to sign up for FT have now been used to send us SPAM. I do not believe we agreed to this when we signed up. Perhaps we did. Either way, they are still responsible for what was received. Internet Brands has its fingerprints all over the messages we have received:

• [*]
• [*]

At the very least, they are not in compliance with the CAN SPAM act.