Don’t Call Me…

When my credit card company calls me at work, I make a point of dropping whatever I’m doing. There could be some crazed spender out there racking up purchases with my credit card number and they are calling to thwart the thievery. Two tickets to Rome? No, I’ll tell them, that’s not me. And then they’ll cut the cord that binds me to this long account number—this number that has become almost as important as my personal identification and certainly more useful.

When my credit card company calls, I get the same gut feeling of dread as when I answer a phone call in the middle of the night. It must be important, I think.

So imagine how disgruntled I am expecting to hear something ominous about my account and what I hear is, “Miss Young, I’m calling about your Citibank account.”

“Yes?” I wait for more.

“Are you aware that we also provide insurance services?”

In fact, I am aware, because, as you know, I write about insurance for a living. I play along for just a moment to make sure she’s really just hawking insurance.

Sure enough, she’s selling for Travelers. When I ask why she called me at work, she acts baffled, apologizes and abruptly hangs up before I can get her name. I huff and puff and think little of the work intrusion, chalking it up to her calling the wrong number.

Until I get a similar call last week. “About your credit card account, we’d like to offer you our platinum service.” This time, I’m not forgiving. I ask for my work phone number to be taken off of their list and to be called only in emergencies. I’m not naïve enough to think that they will, but it felt good saying it.

We’ve been focusing our privacy debate over companies sharing information with third parties. They talk about “opt-out” or “opt-in” versions. Corporations, including insurance companies, want consumers to opt-out of information sharing. Consumer advocates say it should be an opt-in system because the other way places the burden on the consumer.

But the privacy issues are much more complicated than that. Personal privacy is being attacked on several fronts. It’s not just about companies that sell the information, it’s about all of the information that is out there. Technology has enabled databases and information hoarding never imagined before.

Some people don’t mind the intrusions and say they have nothing to hide. Other people, like me, find it disturbing to find old barriers disappearing. I don’t like to be called at work to be sold something. If they had asked me that, I would have told them that. I don’t mind email solicitations. I would have told them that, as well.

Citibank is too big to go back and mark each file for individual preferences. Insurance agencies are not. That’s one of the things that will set you apart when these privacy issues, and I use that term broadly, become more invasive and pervasive (and they will). Make sure this isn’t lost in your relationship with your clients. Clients like me want choices.