Blog #3 – Ethics Toolkit ~ WOMMA

Blog #3 – Ethics Toolkit ~ WOMMA

After reading WOMMA’s Ethics Toolkit, the part that I believe to be the most important is the core values that the members of WOMMA share – in particular, the last core value of privacy. “Privacy: WOMMA members respect the privacy of consumers, and encourages practices that promote the most effective means to promote privacy, such as opt-in and permission standards.” I think that this is an area that marketers of the business world tend to disregard or forfeit in order to get the word out to as many people as possible. Not everyone is a target market for a good or service, but it seems like a lot of companies would like to think this is so.

In regards to the privacy aspect, there are many times I receive emails in all of my accounts I sit there and ponder how exactly my information has been compromised (most likely by my own fault) and what is going through certain marketer’s minds in regards to my interest in a range of ridiculous and some obviously fake products offered. Not only is this constant reception of spam mail annoying but it is also unfair breach of consumers’ trust – especially in such instances where our information is being sold to companies just so that they can hassle us in an attempt to just maybe making a sale.

It has become too easy for these bombard-ers to acquire personal information that should be private because it was intended to be in the first place. I do not “friend” people I don’t know or fill-out surveys or questionnaires that ask me for my personal information and I would like to think that I am careful about giving out my contact information but none of it seems to make any difference.

This sort of conduct makes me resent buying online or even at stores and question who, if any, businesses can be trusted with something as simple as my email. We should have the choice who has our personal information. We consumers should be able to go one day without checking an email account without having our inbox overflow with spam just so that we can uncover the emails that are actually important to our daily lives.