Email privacy

Email this page to a friend

Want news about Email privacy and more e-mailed to you? Click here for free email alerts

Email privacy now a top concern for 19 out of 20 internet users Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

These are: that email privacy is now at the top of the list of concerns for internet users, that businesses and organizations are losing potential subscribers due to distrust, and that if companies would take the step to get independently certified, they would not only see an increase in subscription rates, they would see much higher loyalty from those subscribers as they continue to evolve their business-to-consumer (B2C) relationships.

We're seeing that internet users are skeptical of the privacy claims of companies, and that they will avoid subscribing to email newsletters if they don't trust that company, or if they have some reason to suspect that their email privacy won't be observed. We also see that people are far more likely to subscribe when privacy practices have been independently certified, and once they do subscribe they are far more likely to give that organization more business, because they trust that organization and they're happy to do business with an organization that acts ethically.

So not only do we see 83 percent avoiding subscribing because of a lack of trust, we also see 72 percent saying they would be more likely to subscribe if the newsletter's email privacy practices were certified. Email sender certification is gaining importance The picture we're starting to see is the enormous value of obtaining independent certification of your email practices. Most companies are spending several dollars per visitor to bring them to their website and put them in front of an email newsletter signup offer.

What we have, then, is a huge population of internet users who are visiting various sites on the internet, who are seeing offers to subscribe to email newsletters, and who are evaluating those offers in terms of email privacy. When the evaluation seems to indicate to the user that the company can't be trusted, or if it even raises a question about trust, they stand a very high chance of avoiding subscribing to that email newsletter.

The answer is that if they doubt your organization's email privacy policies, or for some reason they don't believe they can trust your organization, they will refrain from subscribing to your email newsletter. The survey revealed that 83 percent of internet users have avoided subscribing to email newsletters because they weren't sure the organization would protect their email address. Eighty-three percent!

It essentially means that 19 out of every 20 visitors do care about your policy on email privacy. And as we will see in later statistics, it does make a difference in whether they choose to subscribe to your email newsletter or trust your company's email distribution policies. Ninety-six percent is a tremendous majority of the internet end user population, and the most likely reason for this number being so high is because virtually all internet users continue to be inundated with spam. Consequently, protecting their email address remains a high priority.

Email privacy audit results published for 1,000 firms at Relemail.com Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

REPPED: Internet users can now access the email privacy ratings for more than 1,000 online firms in a public ratings database published at Relemail.com. These ratings are the result of a secret audit conducted by Relemail that sought to determine the email privacy practices and anti-spam compliance behaviors of the top organizations on the internet. Each firm is given a rating from one to five stars, with five stars indicating full compliance with all fifteen points monitored by the audit.

Results of the 2004 Relemail email privacy Survey and other privacy statistics http://www.relemail.com/statistics.

The ratings are the first of their kind focused strictly on email privacy and best practices behaviors. Relemail, launched this week, offers a paid certification service that monitors the email behaviors of organizations, then allows qualified email senders to use the Relemail Certification seal on their email subscription pages and other promotional materials. The benefit is improved credibility with website visitors and a sharp increase email subscriptions, according to an end-user survey.

Interview with Loren McDonald, vice president of marketing at EmailLabs Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

So, it's important to include email privacy policies and make sure that there is a copy on that page that does a good job of explaining what the content is going to be and how it's going to be of value to a recipient and how often they're going to get it. In other words, marketers have to go above and beyond to establish that trust. If you say you're going to send somebody a single newsletter a month on best practices in email marketing, and then you start sending a couple of other promotional-oriented emails or three newsletters a month, you've broken that trust at some point.

Over 85% of Internet users believe they've been spammed after subscribing to an email newsletter: Relemail study Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

REPPED: A survey conducted by email privacy certification service ReleMail revealed a staggering 87% of internet users believing that they have been spammed after they subscribed to an email newsletter. The 2004 survey conducted by Relemail also showed 83% of users avoided subscribing to an email newsletter because they weren't sure they could trust the publisher, and 78% do not always believe companies' own email privacy statements.

The survey was taken in conjunction with this week's launch of Relemail, the first email privacy monitoring service available to ecommerce directors, email marketing directors, small businesses and any online organization looking to build trust with customers and potential subscribers. The Relemail service monitors the actual email behaviors of clients, then issues public ratings (1-5 stars) that may be viewed by anyone. Relemail monitors 15 email behaviors and requires its five-star "certified" clients to meet all fifteen.

Results of the 2004 Relemail email privacy Survey and other privacy statistics are posted at http://www.relemail.com/statistics.

The 2004 survey conducted by Relemail also showed 83% of users avoided subscribing to an email newsletter because they weren't sure they could trust the publisher, and 78% do not always believe companies' own email privacy statements. On the positive side, 91% of users say they are more likely to give their business to an organization that follows ethical email practices and respects their privacy, and 72% said they are more likely to subscribe to an email newsletter that has been independently certified as trustworthy.

FAIR USE NOTICE: The research quoted here is provided under the protection of Fair Use provisions and published by the 501(c)3 non-profit Consumer Wellness Center for the purposes of public comment and education. Authors / publishers may submit books for consideration of inclusion here.

TERMS OF USE: Read full terms of use. Citations of text from NaturalPedia must include: 1) Full credit to the original author and book title. 2) Secondary credit to the Natural News Naturalpedia as a research resource and a link to www.NaturalNews.com/np/index.html

This unique compilation of research is copyright (c) 2008 by the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center.

ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.