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To trumpet its spam-relief product, Experian's marketing campaign touted the support of direct marketers, Internet service providers, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Little did Experian realize how far into the lion's mouth it was sticking its head.
A clerical error put EPIC's name in the release without the center's OK. On Friday, EPIC director Marc Rotenberg, king of the online privacy jungle, let Experian know just how he felt about having EPIC's name taken vain.
"We are less than overwhelmed by Experian's recent success with online database management," Rotenberg said in a clipped message posted to Declan McCullagh's Fight Censorship list. "We urge ISPs that want to maintain user trust and show support for consumer privacy not [to] back the [...] effort."
A database clearinghouse with access to information on some 190 million people, 93 percent of US households, and 13 million businesses, Experian has run into online snafus before. In mid-August, just after setting up an online credit history database, the company accidentally sent the wrong credit histories to the wrong people. Privacy advocates were not amused.
So when Experian trumpeted the news that, in a joint venture with two other companies, it had found a spam solution, called EHI, those privacy advocates remained suspicious. And when the company announced that the solution would perform the heretofore impossible - satisfying ISPs, Internet users, and direct marketers alike - the skepticism barometer rose.
This most recent clerical error, which resulted in the release of a draft version of a press release claiming that both the Center for Democracy and Technology and EPIC reviewed and approved "the program's respect for consumer privacy," sealed the deal. Rotenberg went online with both barrels blazing.
"Contrary to Experian's claims, EPIC conducted no formal review of the program, did not approve the program's practices, and did not consent to the use of EPIC's name in Experian's statements," reads a rapid-fire press release he sent to the Fight Censorship list just after the Experian release appeared.
Moreover, the statement continues, Experian "was told repeatedly that EPIC would not and could not endorse this program."
For his part, Experian director Ian Oxman says he's blameless. "Marc saw the statement, asked us to remove that portion, and we did," he said. "But it went up online by accident. Then when we discovered the error two days ago, we took it down. I don't understand why Marc would flame this out so quickly."
Given the snafu, much of the support Experian once claimed could be significantly eroded. After all, EPIC boasts nothing if not a massive amount of credibility in the online world. Oxman is unfazed. "I think the people who understand the plan won't pay any attention to Marc's sniping," he said. "Marc doesn't know what he's talking about."
