Our
Recommendations to Clubs
Unfortunately, we have arrived at a
day and age where dog owners are legislative
targets. Whether it is breed specific
legislation, insurance discrimination,
limit laws, breeding restrictions, in
many parts of the country, breeders
are only able to maintain a breeding
program by being extremely discreet.
When this happens, dog owners are no
longer willing to participate in the
legislative process due to fear of raising
their own profile in a community. We
know. We've seen it happen.
We believe that clubs have an obligation
to their members to protect their privacy
wherever possible. Submissions to AKC
for accreditation purposes should contain
the minimum
information required, and only after
careful review should clubs ever submit
the email addresses of their members.
There are opportunities for club members
to "opt-in" to AKC mailings
at their own discretion; and that is
as it should be. A simple 3 question
test can help clubs determine where
and what personal member information
can be safely disseminated to another
party, including the AKC:
- Does the organization need the information?
- What do they intend to do with the
information?
- And most importantly - does your
organization have the right to give
this information to someone else?
In many cases the answer to the last
question is NO - unless expressly declared
when the information was collected,
i.e. on a membership application or
renewal.
Without receiving a clear answer to
our inquiry requesting precise information
about just how membership information
will be used, we caution clubs to avoid
placing themselves in an awkward position
with their own membership.
Whether AKC has intentions to rent,
or share membership information with
any other party - cannot truly be determined
when an intern, only employed for 8
weeks, is directed to respond. At any
rate, all akc.org users should familiarize
themselves with AKC's own website
privacy policy, as it's one of the
most blatant examples of "We'll
do whatever we want to with what we
learn about you," that you will
see on the web; particularly coming
from an organization of this size. The
more that AKC knows about its web visitors,
the more they can charge in targeted
marketing
rates. From both Secretary Crowley's
and Ms. Peterson's communications, it
appears that this trend of heavy marketing
is to be continued offline as well,
and will include the legislative agenda
of the American Kennel Club, bypassing
the current legislative liaisons.
What is crystal clear at this time,
has actually been stated by AKC's federal
government relations representative,
Jim Holt, who says, "This isn't
your father's AKC."
Indeed.
At this stage, we recommend that corresponding
secretaries supply AKC with membership
rosters that are scanned first into
an image format, such as jpeg, then
converted to Adobe pdf files, thereby
reducing paper waste, and submittable
via email or disk. Additionally, including
disclaimers on your documents that specify
precisely how the information can be
used is an excellent idea.
We also recommend the following reading
to increase awareness of privacy concerns.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse:
Online Privacy for Nonprofits
- How
to Protect Members' Privacy and Personal
Information
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse:
The Information Marketplace - Merging
and Exchanging Consumer Data
Electronic Privacy Information
Center: Privacy
and Consumer Profiling
FTC Privacy Initiatives:
Enforcing
Privacy Promises
The CAN-SPAM Act:
Requirements for Commercial Emailers
FTC General Tips on
Privacy
FTC Advertising and Marketing
on the Internet: Rules
of the Road
Case Law References:
Privacy
Law Q1 2004
PC World Article:
You
Are for Sale
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