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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.

Simply making this statement this on your website is not enough to convince intelligent internet users. They automatically suspect everyone because they've been burned before. So 78 percent carry around the belief that they can't trust these self-serving statements by companies. This is why independent certification has now become so important for gaining the trust of readers -- only an independent, unbiased third party certification service can accurately convey that your organization follows email best practices and won't spam end users.

Whether or not it is true, most internet users believe that spam comes from handing over their email address by signing up for an email newsletter. They start receiving spam, and, correct or not, they believe it came from that subscription. What companies need to do is resolve that distrust to avoid any incorrect perception that your organization might be selling emails out the backdoor. And the way to do that, of course, is to be independently audited and certified by a company like Relemail.

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.

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. But a question remains: What kind of actions do people take based on their prioritization of email privacy?

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.

Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry Is Medicating a Nation Charles Barber See book keywords and concepts

Remarkably, almost a quarter of American internet users have searched for mental health topics like depression and anxiety. As a category, mental health issues are searched for more often than immunizations, dental health, Medicare or Medicaid, sexual health information, or problems with drugs and alcohol.29 In July 2006, of the ten most popular online searches for pharmaceutical and medical products, six concerned psychiatric drugs or psychiatric disease. (They were, in order, Lexapro, Cymbalta, Zoloft, Wellbutrin [an antianxiety agent], Effexor, and the illness of depression itself.

Put an end to spam and phishing by reforming email Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Here's the danger: If they cannot agree on a set of standards, eventually there will be enough pressure from financial institutions, internet users and legitimate email marketing companies to get Congress to pass new laws mandating some kind of sender certification or authentication system. That, my friends, is what we don't want. Again, I think the government won't do it right. It will be very bureaucratic, costly, delayed and inadequate. We do not want the government to come and regulate this medium.

They can come up with any number of other tricks to keep sending spam to honest internet users all over the world. And they do. For a long time, I was a proponent of the puzzle solution to ending spam, and to some extent I still am, but let me explain why the puzzle solution is not enough. The puzzle solution is designed to add friction to the sending of email by placing a processing burden on outbound mail servers. Essentially, it would slow mail servers so that spammers could never send 10 million emails in one day. It changes the economics of sending spam.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century Alex Steffen See book keywords and concepts

Similarly, collective intelligence is now being enhanced by online tools and clever social structures. Most internet users are familiar with Wikipedia, the open-source encyclopedia that allows anyone to edit entries or download content. More than a million entries have been created in the English version of the site, many of high quality. But this didn't happen by chance: the creators put guidelines in place to catch vandals, resolve conflicts, store all versions of the content, and discuss contentious or unclear issues.

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

Relemail certification proves to your customers and website visitors that they can trust you," explains Relemail founder Mike Adams, a veteran of the email marketing industry. "Internet users are skeptical of self-stated privacy policies. What they want to see is an independent audit, a third-party observer who watches the actual behaviors of email senders and makes sure they adhere to strict standards of ethics and professionalism." Relemail email ratings are posted at: http://www.relemail.com/ratings.

The 2004 survey showed 91% of internet users are more likely to give their business to an organization that follows ethical email practices and respects their privacy. Seventy-two percent reported they were more likely to subscribe to an email newsletter that has been independently certified, while 83% of users said they have avoided subscribing to an email newsletter because they weren't sure they could trust the publisher.

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.

New email privacy certification service lets email senders prove they aren't spamming Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Organizations that meet all fifteen requirements can display the Relemail seal on their website, reassuring website visitors that their email practices are being constantly monitored and rated. Relemail was created by email industry veteran Mike Adams, the inventor of the first permission-based email marketing software for the PC, and founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com). The service was launched in response to strong customer demand for authentic, trusted certification for email senders.

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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.