Why we publish this guide

The exemptions below have been developed by Junkbusters as our first attempt at ensuring that all organizations will be able to comply with the instructions expressed in DECLARATIONs. They may assist organizations that wish to contact a client and are unsure whether this is consistent with the intended meaning of a client's DECLARATION. We expect that they will be improved based on a dialog with consumers and direct marketers, which we would like to be conducted in public we don't wish to act as behind-the-scenes negotiators. To support this, we ask that all questions, suggestions and requests for clarification, whether coming from direct marketing organizations or clients, be posted to Web, and that the HTML include a link to this page so that everyone can find it using indexers. After this is done, please inform us of the URL. Based on the consensus of opinion that develops, we expect this guide to grow and change to reflect what is desirable and practical.

Definition of a solicitation

In this context a solicitation is defined as any individual act of communication to a consumer encouraging donations or the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services. Mass communications such as the broadcast of television commercials where the sender lacks control over the individuals receiving it are excluded. All mailings are included, whether addressed to the individual by name, or with anonymous titles such as ``occupant,'' ``resident,'' or the supremely presumptuous ``our friends at,'' to just the bare address, or to all mail stops along a rural route.

Classification of organizations

As indicated in the text of the DECLARATIONs, organizations not specifically named in the DECLARATION should consider themselves covered by the last applicable line of the DECLARATION, where applicability is determined by the indication given at the end of the line and the Yahoo! category to which it is hyperlinked. The organization's specific inclusion by Yahoo! is neither necessary nor sufficient; the criterion is whether a reasonable person in possession of the facts would be likely to say that the organization belongs among the others listed by Yahoo! in the category.

  Exemptions relating to the provision of data

The following exemptions apply to instructions that an organization not provide information about the consumer to other organizations.

1. Such requests do not apply to information that the organization is required by law to provide, such as a requirement on banks to report interest payments to taxation authorities, or specific information demanded by a court under subpoena. Where information is demanded specifically about the individual (rather than routine reporting on a large number of customers as with the interest payments above) the organization is requested, to the greatest degree permitted by law, to inform the subject of the demand as early as possible, and to delay provision of the information until the latest date possible.
2. Such requests do not apply to information deliberately published by the consumer, such as Web pages and Usenet postings. (This says nothing about the separate question of copyright.)
3. An organization may disclose information pursuant to a separate written agreement with the consumer, such as a release given to a heath care insurer.
4. The provision of data to an organization engaged by the provider in the role of a servant to perform contract services involving processing information about the consumer is exempt provided that under a written agreement the subcontractor is required (1) not to disclose such information to others; and (2) not to use it for purposes other than serving the contracting organization. This exemption is intended to cover outsourced operations such as billing or data processing, not joint operations where both parties have an interest in data about the consumer, such comarketing agreements.
5. A subcontractor may under these conditions engage a sub-subcontractor, and so on.
6. Provision of information to a common carrier necessary for the delivery of a message (such as the address on a letter) to the data subject is exempted.
7. Telecommunications carriers are permitted to follow their customary publicized practices concerning disclosure of information about calls made by the data subject (such as calling party number) unless the consumer taken the appropriate steps to request that this should not be done (such as requesting blocking the transmission of the calling party number).

Exemptions relating to contact

The following exemptions apply to instructions not to contact the consumer.

1. Genuine billing and debt collection is excluded from the restriction not to contact.
2. If a genuine business relationship exists with the consumer (beyond the business merely having sent unsolicited material) and the company is not specifically indicated as being denied permission in the DECLARATION, the company may continue to contact the customer by means it had previously used, unless advised otherwise directly by the customer. In the case of charities and non-profit organizations, a ``business relationship'' is considered to exist if the individual has made a donation or requested material to be provided.
3. A genuine check (as opposed to what the industry calls a ``promotional check,'' rather than a ``junk mail check'' or the harsh-sounding ``fake check'' ) for an amount greater than thirty times the current standard charge for posting a letter within the country of residence of the consumer is exempt provided that payment is not dependent on any undertaking by the payee other than cashing it.