For Your Eyes Only

Not surprisingly, DMers' and privacy professionals' opinions about data security differ, according to a recent study of e-mail marketing practices and privacy.

For the report, 498 privacy and data-protection specialists and 713 direct marketers with an average overall experience of nine years were asked the same series of data-related questions.

Seventy-one percent of privacy pros said they believe their organizations are respectful of consumers' rights, compared with only 40% of the DMers surveyed.

Additionally, 40% of the privacy adepts were optimistic their organizations' marketing practices protect personal information; only 25% of marketers are confident in this case. As for individual privacy, 68% of privacy experts generally agree that their marketing programs don't violate these rights; many DMers (60%) were uncertain.

The report was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by StrongMail Systems.