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Brave’s use of direct mailers

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Re: Brave’s use of direct mailers

#81

Post by smeej »

boucher wrote: post #12
paulgb wrote: post #3

It seems like a weird mia culpa. If I’m understanding right, they’re not sorry for sending the mailers, or working with a data broker to get the addresses, just for the fact that names were printed on the envelopes? I wonder who is concerned about the last one that isn’t more concerned about the first two.

Yeah, I don't get it either. Is there anybody who doesn't get this kind of mail at home addressed to them by name all the time?

Not from companies I've never interacted with, no.

I haven't done any of the extreme privacy things, but I do use a PO box for almost everything, and thus I really don't ever get anything addressed to my name sent to my actual residence.

Re: Brave’s use of direct mailers

#82

Post by dangrossman »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #79
dangrossman wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Junk mail is sequestered carbon that's been removed from the atmosphere.

Only if it's using recycled paper or wood from sustainably managed forest. Otherwise you're only moving the carbon around and not increasing the 'sequestered' carbon.

That's a given. Nobody's making paper by clearing old growth forests. 98% of virgin paper fiber is from fast growing softwoods in managed forests. The paper industry plants 1.7 million trees per day in the US. Increasing consumption of paper and lumber products from managed forests was one of IPCC's recommendations to the UN on climate change.

Re: Brave’s use of direct mailers

#83

Post by ElvisTrout »

Buttons840 wrote: post #70

I have a cynical take on the prevalence of marketing in our society. This may not apply to Brave specifically, but while we're on the topic of marketing: I wonder if growing wealthy inequality means that consumers simply don't have enough wealth to make honest exchanges worth while. The powers-that-be look for ways to "grow" and consider making an honest product and simply selling it, but the common people don't have…

Marketing is very profitable. Sadly word of mouth is a painfully slow way to sell even a good product.

Re: Brave’s use of direct mailers

#84

Post by Firehawke »

smeej wrote: post #81
boucher wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I don't get it either. Is there anybody who doesn't get this kind of mail at home addressed to them by name all the time?

Not from companies I've never interacted with, no. I haven't done any of the extreme privacy things, but I do use a PO box for almost everything, and thus I really don't ever get anything addressed to my name sent to my actual residence.

Really? Because every time a new dentist office, grocery store, etc. opens up I get unsolicited mail from them to let me know they're now a thing in my neighborhood.

Does it bother me? Not in the slightest. It's a community notice, and the Brave thing would only annoy me if it hit the levels that AOL CDs were at in the 90s.

Re: Brave’s use of direct mailers

#85

Post by dinkleberg »

morganvachon wrote: post #41
sha256sum wrote: post #34

I feel like the criticism towards Brave ITT is unjustified. This is a USPS service which is available to businesses. If you're a privacy conscious person in the US, you've likely opted out of this list. Brave is reaching the people who may not have done this, to the end of getting regular folks to know their alternatives against big tech companies. I guess don't get the ire, or what the expectation is for them to gro…

Here's the fun thing: I have opted out of blind mailers from the USPS, yet I got one of these Brave mailers last week with my name on it (I'm in the Atlanta area). Just one more reason of many for me to never, ever let Brave near any of my devices.

That sounds like an unhealthy paranoia.

Which seems more likely? The USPS is delivering spam mail against the wishes of the recipient (I still get spam mail weekly despite opting out) or a privacy-focused company is snooping on your devices to steal your personal info (so they can send you mailers?).

Re: Brave’s use of direct mailers

#86

Post by user3939382 »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #53

Why does this process involve printing addresses at all? In Germany "you" (probably needs to be a company of some size) go to "the post office" (actual delivery probably directly to a distribution center), give them a stack of flyers, and say "one of these into each mailbox in this ZIP code, please". The mailman then takes a stack of said flyers and starts stuffing mailboxes as he goes along his route (excluding thos…

Probably to enable opt-out which most people don’t use but is available at dmachoice.org

Re: Brave’s use of direct mailers

#89

Post by Animats »

VanTheBrand wrote: post #78
Animats wrote: post #75

Since the outside of all US mail is imaged and stored by the USPS and shared with other government agencies, [1] Brave just gave its user list to the US Government. [1] https://www.newsweek.com/postal-service-photographs-every-pi...

No it didn’t. Read the article. They sent this to entire zip codes. It’s not targeted at users. If you are a user and you also got it, that’s a coincidence. All your neighbors in the same zip code also got it whether they are users or not,

Then why does their mailing piece say "New Brave User"?

Their spin control says they sent it to entire zip codes. Is there independent confirmation of that?

Re: Brave’s use of direct mailers

#90

Post by user3939382 »

schmichael wrote: post #51

I would take quite a bit of tracking in exchange for no more junk mailers like this. They seem to be missing the forest for the trees: sure tracking is problematic, but Annoying Ads, however you define them, have always been the biggest pain point. Whether it’s popups, popunders, interstitials, autoplaying, made to look like news, or killing trees to fill your mailbox: we’ve always been at war with annoying ads. This…

dmachoice.org and optoutprescreen.com allows you to get rid of 99% of junk mail.

If you want to go deeper: https://optout.lexisnexis.com/ https://risk.lexisnexis.com/prescreened-offers-optout

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