A consortium of creditors, database clearinghouses, and Internet novices which recently trumpeted the news that they had found a way to stem the flood of unwanted commercial email unraveled after it ran up against one of the biggest political realities of the Internet: Net users' hatred of digital surveillance.
Earlier this summer, three database companies, Experian, Harte Hanks, and International Business Lists, trumpeted the news that they'd found a way to stem the flood of spam.
Speaking on behalf of the consortium, called EHI, director Ian Oxman issued a press release describing a system whereby Internet users could opt to receive spam. If users didn't opt in, they wouldn't find their mailboxes clogged with spam. EHI would also create an Internet-wide database of individual and business names accessible to everyone on the Internet. At the time he announced his spam-killer, Oxman boasted an impressive array of support from some 80-plus Internet service providers nationwide and, somewhat surprisingly, the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
As it turns out, no one was more surprised by the announcement of the center's support than the center itself.
"On August 19, 1997, I sent you an email message in which I stated: You do not have permission to use EPIC's name in support of your product. Please remove any reference to EPIC in your promotional materials," wrote center director Marc Rotenberg in an irate 2 September email to Oxman. "You indicated in a reply to me on August 20 that you would remove EPIC's name. Today I visited the Experian Web site and found a press release with a fraudulent statement regarding EPIC's views of the EHI.... Believe me when I tell you that you have handled this situation very badly."
So badly, in fact, that on 5 September, three days after Rotenberg's email, Experian decided to pull out of the deal. And on Monday, Oxman, who said the announcement of the center's support was the result of a mistakenly posted draft, found himself packing his office to go to work on a project with one less partner.
"I guess that in some way Marc did me and Experian a favor," Oxman said in an interview Monday. "I mean, we only issued an industry announcement and we hit this massive payload of fear about privacy on the Internet. I mean, imagine what the Internet public's reaction would have been if we'd gone really truly public with this announcement."
An Internet novice, Oxman said he was initially floored by Rotenberg's ferocity. Explaining his position in an email to the privacy advocate, he tried to talk his way back into Rotenberg's good graces.
"Ya know, I really am not one of the bad guys," he wrote. "I want all commercial spam stopped and only opt-in email marketing allowed. I would think EPIC would support such a concept. EHI is not collecting any personal data, not selling email addressing, not merging credit information, not doing anything that should privacy concern any rational consumer."
Experian, which boasts a credit information database containing information on some 190 million people, 93 percent of US households, and 13 million businesses, made a crucial miscalculation in attempting to put itself forth as guardian of people's online privacy. But Oxman thought the marriage was a natural, and was completely taken aback by the online community's mistrust.
"I've been at Experian for years. I know how careful we are with people's credit records," he said.
But after a newly Internetted Experian last month sent the wrong credit records to the wrong people, convincing the public and privacy advocates that the company could be trusted became nearly impossible. And EHI's June pledge - "to run [ISP] user bases against their databases and spew forth detailed demographic data on an annual basis" for ISPs which helped the consortium gather information - didn't add to anyone's comfort level.
But a chastened Oxman, who is leaving Experian to head up Harte Hank and International Business Lists' as-yet-named spam and white-pages venture, insists that the promised data would include information that is a matter of public record. And he said he believes that eventually, the Internet public will come around.
"I have new respect for the amount of education we'll have to do to get people to understand our plan," he said. "And I have new respect for how quickly misinformation can be broadcast on the Web. There's no room at all for ambiguity."
