I still receive “snail mail” at home. And every time I look at it I get enraged.
In fact, I’m this close to opening most of the pieces of mail, removing the postage-free reply envelope, and returning it to the originator with the following message:
Thank you for contributing to rampant identity theft.
How do companies, possibly including YOUR company, contribute to identity theft? Read on.
Snail mail, a treasure trove of PII
Let me provide an example, heavily redacted, of something that I received in the (snail) mail this week. I won’t reveal the name of the company that sent this to me, other than to say that it is an automobile association that does business in America.
John Bredehoft
[HOME ADDRESS REDACTED]
John Bredehoft…
You and your spouse/partner are each eligible to apply for up to $300,000.00 of Term Life Insurance reserved for members – and with Lower Group Rates ROLLED BACK to 2018!
… SCAN THIS [QR CODE REDACTED] Takes you right to your personalized application
OR GO TO [URL REDACTED] and use this Invitation Code: [CODE REDACTED]
So that’s the first page. The second page includes a Group Term Life Insurance Application with much of the same information.
And there’s the aforementioned return envelope…with my name and address helpfully preprinted on the envelope.
What could go wrong?
Dumpster divers
Now obviously the sender hopes that I fill out the form and return it. But there is a very good chance that I will NOT respond to this request, in which case I have to do something with all these papers with personally identifiable information (PII).
Obviously I should shred it.
But what if I don’t?
And some dumpster diver rifles through my trash?
- Perhaps the dumpster diver will just capture my name, address, and other PII and be done with it.
- Or perhaps the dumpster diver will apply for term life insurance in my name and do who knows what.
Thanks, sender, you just exposed me to identity theft.
But there’s another possible point at which my identity can be stolen.
Mailbox diverters
What if this piece of snail mail never makes it to me?
- Maybe someone breaks into my mailbox, steals the mail, and then steals my identity.
- Or maybe someone breaks into a mail truck, or anywhere on the path from the sender to the recipient.
Again, I’ve been exposed to identity theft.
All because several pieces of paper are floating around with my PII on it.
Multiply that by every piece of mail sent to every person, and the PII exposure problem is enormous.
Email marketers, you’re not off the hook
Now I’m sure some of you are in a self-congratulatory mood right now.
John, don’t tarnish us with the same brush as junk mailers. We are ecologically responsible and don’t send snail mails any more. We use email, eliminating the chance of pieces of PII-laden paper floating around.
Perhaps I should break the news to you.
- Emails are often laden with the same PII that you find in traditional snail mail, via printed text or “easy to use” web links.
- Emails can be stolen also.
So you’re just as bad as the snail mailers.
What to do?
If you’re a marketer sending PII to your prospects and customers…
Stop it.
Don’t distribute PII all over the place.
Assume that any PII you distribute WILL be stolen.
Because it probably will.
And if you didn’t know this, it won’t make your prospects and customers happy.
Bredemarket 