How to Opt Out for Privacy

You buy something at your favorite store, subscribe to an electronic marketing newsletter and renew your driver's license at the state department of motor vehicles. For each of these, you give personal information and wonder what happens to it after the transaction is complete. You can opt out of allowing your information to be unofficially distributed or for advertising offers. Read on to learn more.

Instructions

1. Stop telemarketers from calling you at home. Go to www.donotcall.gov. or call [phone]. Either way you can register up to three phone numbers, but if registering by phone you must call from at least one of the numbers you intent to register. The volume of telemarketing calls you receive will be reduced during the first three months after you initially register, and your phone numbers will remain in the Do Not Call registry for five years or until the time your registered numbers are disconnected or you remove them from the registry; you must renew your registration after five years.

2. Rid yourself of junk mail. Register with the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service, online or by post. "You'll be added to the "delete" roster given to direct-mail telemarketers and will stay on the list for five years. The DMA will stop junk mail from many national firms but not from those companies not registered with the DMA Mail Preference Service.

3. Opt out of unwanted commercial email. You can register online by completing an electronic form through the DMA's Email Preference Service to halt unwelcome email solicitations. The registration is valid for one year and you can re-register at that time.

4. Eliminate the volume of credit card solicitations you receive. The major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, let you opt out of these offers being mailed to you for two years at which time you can re-register. You can register by calling (888) 5-OPTOUT (567-8688) and providing your name, Social Security number and home telephone number. The credit bureaus keep this information private but must have it to handle your request to opt out of getting promotional credit offers.

5. Read the inserts that come with your retail, utility or banking mail. The companies you conduct business with must, by law, notify you about your privacy rights. Many firms do this by including privacy information inserts in the correspondence they send you. You'll find information on how to prevent them from sharing your personal information in these privacy inserts.

6. Be aware of how a state department of motor vehicles handles your personal information. A federal law, the Drivers Privacy Protection Act, permits each state to share personal information, as needed, to law enforcement, government, private investigators, insurance representatives and related businesses. In these instances, your personal information cannot be provided for direct marketing or similar purposes.

Tips & Warnings

• Register to opt out with the DMA by mailing a letter to: Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service; P. O. Box 643; Carmel, NY 10512.

• Correspond in writing with the major credit bureaus telling them not to share your personal information. This will also help to limit the amount of junk mail you receive.

Resources

• National Do Not Call Registry
• Direct Marketing Association's online opt-out registration for mail
• Direct Marketing Association's online opt-out registration for email
• Information on opt-out registration with major credit bureaus