To my surprise, Gregg sent me a reply early the following morning:

Dear [my name],

Thanks for your note and for registering your concerns about privacy. Allow me to reassure you that we DO NOT sell our lists. We stopped that practice about 2 years ago. We do, however, mail Mileage Plan offers to our members but those mailings are controlled by Alaska Airlines through a 3rd party mailing house. Your name and address is never shared with the company making the offer. This gives us control over what is mailed/offered and we can ensure that members are only receiving offers of value. Most of our members have told us that they are interested in mileage-earning opportunities and mileage bonuses, so that's typically what is sent out. In the online world, members must opt-in to receive such mileage offers, and there's a quick and convenient spot on our website to do that (see MyAlaskaAir). I'll admit that having snail mail operate under an opt out policy while email is under an opt-in policy is a little confusing, but given that our snail mail lists are neither sold nor directly shared most folks are comfortable with that. If you'd like to be removed from the snail mail promotions list please let me know and we'll be happy to take care of that for you. I trust this helps to better explain how we're handling your personal information. Thanks for taking the time to write and thanks for flying with us.

Regards,

Gregg

I'm don't agree with Gregg that a "third party mailing house" is any more trustworthy than a company attempting to sell me something. I also really hate having to "opt out," which is increasingly popular with advertisers because it's difficult for consumers to do. This year, I've had to tell two banks, three brokerage firms, two insurance companies, an Internet service provider, three credit bureaus, and now Alaska Airlines that I'd really rather not have them use my personal information. Even worse, privacy policies from most of these organizations have been much less friendly than Alaska Airlines.

The privacy policies I've received have run the gamut, and I'm probably the only person who reads them. For example, Pemco Insurance has an exceptionally consumer-friendly privacy policy; they "do not sell personal information about our customers, former customers, or their accounts, for any purpose." Bank One, on the other hand, indicates in their privacy policy that any information they collect about customers can be sold to anyone for any purpose permissible by law. You can opt out, but when I called them to say "no thanks," the phone system indicated that it would be 6 weeks before my request was processed--during which time they could continue to sell my information. I'm sure they began to do so the moment I hung up the phone.

Alaska Airlines means well. Many Mileage Plan members really do want to receive notification of special offers. This is one of the reasons I signed up for the Alaska Airlines mailing list. The problem is that offers based on an "opt out" system get out of hand. I get as much junk e-mail as legitimate e-mail, even including the advertising mailing lists I voluntarily subscribe to. I receive an average half dozen credit card offers a week in my mailbox, and about an equal number of solicitations from charities (which automatically go in the recycling, because I don't give money to charities that send me junk mail).  Everywhere I drive, I'm bombarded with advertising. You can't even go to a movie without seeing advertisements interspersed with the previews, which are themselves advertisements for other movies! And during the movie, you're bombarded with still more product placement advertising. I don't own a television, in no small part because you can't even watch PBS without ads. And you can't even read the comics page in the Seattle Times without first removing both cleverly hidden inserts and a special tear-off coupon section.

Under the crushing weight of this advertising deluge, it should not be surprising that I look for every opportunity to reduce the flow. So to every marketer considering an "opt out" policy, please consider the following: if I want to receive your offers, I'll ask you for them. If I don't want to receive your offers, they'll most likely go straight to the recycling bin without even being opened. What's a better use of your money, opt-out or opt-in? You decide.

Until then, I'll be on the phone. It's a telemarketer calling with a valuable offer on aluminum siding, which would be just terrific if I owned my home.

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