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US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

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Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#81

Post by al_borland »

the__alchemist wrote: post #7

Anecdotally: A: I get more spam than ever. What is especially annoying is that the majority of reputable companies do this. Order something? Sign up for an account? Set up an LLC? File a trademark? Boom: Spam emails UFN. B: It's easier to unsubscribe than ever: Often one-click at the bottom of the email, or let Gmail/Fastmail etc do it for you. Generally effective. One annoyance I find is the Our terms have been alte…

My biggest issue is they no longer ask, or they do ask and don’t respect the user’s choice. I always uncheck the email/signup checkbox. Yet I still get the emails. Some simply sign the user up by default and then taking the position that the user can unsubscribe if they don’t want them.

If I notice a company doing this, I stop doing business with them. If they can’t respect my inbox and be trusted, then they shouldn’t get a dime of my money.

Spamming me is never a good way to create a positive brand image. When unsubscribing I always say it’s spam when there is a survey on why I’m unsubscribing. I hope it gets them banned from their email marketing service.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#83

Post by ToucanLoucan »

b112 wrote: post #65
mkoubaa wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm almost as severe. I look for an unsubscribe button in the email. I click it. If I am not immediately unsubscribed from everything, I mark the email as spam.

I won't do business with companies that spam me. Here I am, already giving you money, and you want to spam me?! Even after I clicked unsubscribe? The worst are the BS claims of "account status emails", which are just spam. I moved my entire portfolio to another bank, filed a complaint, then filed complaints as I closed each account/card. The goal to have plenty of record as to why. Screw that.

Ugh my student loans went to a new servicer who I swear to god is paid by the email sent to me. I get an email letting me know when the payment is coming out (hint: it's the same numeric day as last month, plus or minus a day to account for non-banking weekend days) and the amount (hint: it's the same amount it always is, because that's how payments work) and then I get an email from them after my payment completes and then I get an email from them every time someone changes a punctuation mark in the roughly 400 pages of horseshit that I signed when I was 18 years old to get an education, and of course the fucking MESSAGES.

"There's an important message in your inbox, please log in to check"

And then you go look and it's like "the white house wants to alleviate student debt, if you don't want your debt discharged fill out this form" And it's like...

a) who in their right mind wouldn't want that

b) there's no way in hell I'm getting my debt discharged, I make WAY too much fucking money

c) this is a matter of public policy and developing news, why the fuck was this sent as a secure message

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#84

Post by jabroni_salad »

jfengel wrote: post #14
the__alchemist wrote: post #7

Anecdotally: A: I get more spam than ever. What is especially annoying is that the majority of reputable companies do this. Order something? Sign up for an account? Set up an LLC? File a trademark? Boom: Spam emails UFN. B: It's easier to unsubscribe than ever: Often one-click at the bottom of the email, or let Gmail/Fastmail etc do it for you. Generally effective. One annoyance I find is the Our terms have been alte…

I get vastly less spam. Gmail just plain deletes most of it without even dumping it into the spam folder. It's down from thousands a month to dozens. Companies do subscribe me to mailing lists pretty easily but I really don't mind if they honor the unsubscribe link. And most seem to. (The exception was the Red Cross who I eventually had to mark as spam.)

That's a temporary reprieve. Gmail started hard-requiring an x-unsubscribe header for anyone that sends more than a couple hundred emails to gmail. It isn't hard to put in, it's just that the lower effort mailers need to adjust and don't have visibility on their own spam rates.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#85

Post by inglor_cz »

pbasista wrote: post #60
inglor_cz wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"As easy to cancel as it is to sign up" Hm, I would prefer two-step sign up to one-step unsubscribe.

Why the asymmetry? And what do you have in mind when you refer to "two-step sign up"?

For my convenience; and by two-step sign up I mean "enter my e-mail into a form, then receive a confirmation e-mail and click on a confirmation link to be actually subscribed".

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#86

Post by Spivak »

TimedToasts wrote: post #63
dfxm12 wrote: post #34

It's nice when the government improves the quality of life for regular people at the expense of businesses who are using dark patterns. I'll be sure to remember this in November. Here's more info on the initiative: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases...

Call me when it's more than wishful thinking and promises

This isn't some would-be candidate saying something on the campaign trail, this is the FCC and FTC taking the first steps toward rulemaking.

You should consider this rule to be as at least as real as a bill going through congress with broad bipartisan support.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#87

Post by pembrook »

the__alchemist wrote: post #7

Anecdotally: A: I get more spam than ever. What is especially annoying is that the majority of reputable companies do this. Order something? Sign up for an account? Set up an LLC? File a trademark? Boom: Spam emails UFN. B: It's easier to unsubscribe than ever: Often one-click at the bottom of the email, or let Gmail/Fastmail etc do it for you. Generally effective. One annoyance I find is the Our terms have been alte…

This legislation is about making it easier to cancel subscription payment services, not emails.

But, in my experience, after Gmail forced unsubscribe headers earlier this year in marketing emails (1-click unsubscribe is now built into gmail), it's become infinitely easier to clean up my inbox.

So that problem is already solved IMO. Pretty much all the big inbox providers are now forcing 1-click unsubscribe into their inbox UI.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#88

Post by exabrial »

Rather than adding additional regulation (which rarely works, just look at Apple vs EU), the only change needed is to allow individuals to sue under the CANSPAM act. Fairly certain you'd see an immediate change in behavior. Right now, only State AGs can sue.

While we're at it, extend CANSPAM to physical mail as well so we can clean up the massive environmental burden of companies abusing the US Postal Service for marketing.

(Note, I edited the language on my physical spam rant).

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#89

Post by pptr »

jmyeet wrote: post #6

This is what government is for. It's why I can't (and don't) take any libertarians seriously. You can't Yelp review your way into regulating society. It's just so naive and silly. I was reminded of this recenntly when I saw a "hack" on how to cancel your Planet Fitness membership. As many would know, these gyms make it incredibly hard to cancel a subscription. It's their entire business model. Anyway, the "hack" is t…

App stores solved this problem long ago without any help from the government.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#90

Post by lotsofpulp »

ethbr1 wrote: post #55
lotsofpulp wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/requesting-a-sec... >1. Gather Necessary Documentation >You'll need copies of: Seems pretty reasonable to require proof of identity and proof of parent/guardian before freezing someone’s credit.

Have you tried to do it? There's a lot of "We found an unspecified discrepancy in your submitted documentation and are unable to service your request. Please resubmit after fixing the unspecified problem" dark responses from credit bureaus. Which is what this rule making initiative seems to be about -- you shouldn't have an advertised process that actually leads to black holes (because it's in the company's financial…

I have done it for two kids at all 3 bureaus with no issues. Probably spent 15min filling out the forms and mailing the envelopes.

> you shouldn't have an advertised process that actually leads to black holes (because it's in the company's financial interest for them to).

Of course, but not providing appropriate levels of service to the small percentage of people because they are inconsequential to big businesses is pervasive across the economy.

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