Take Control of Junk Mail says MP

Neil Gerrard, Labour MP for Walthamstow, has welcomed the launch of a new internet based service to help consumers cut down on unwanted junk mail.

“The Data Protection Act requires companies who are notified that you don’t want to receive unsolicited mail from them to remove your name and address from their mailing lists” says Me Gerrard. “Unfortunately many organisations are not aware of this and people find it a problem to let companies know they want to stop getting mail.”

“The new website, called itsmypost.com sets out to make it easier for consumers to tell companies to remove them from mailing lists, and to be able to choose who they are happy to get mail from. Through the online service, for a small charge, consumers can contact numerous companies at the same time to tell them they do not want to hear from them in the future. Companies who receive ‘no mail’ notifications then have to comply with the request because of the Data Protection Act.”

“Apart from stopping people having to deal with unwanted mail this could have significant environmental impact. There are estimates that this service could lead to a reduction of up to 1 billion items of direct mail being sent out, eradicating 137,000 tonnes of paper from landfill sites.”

May 2007

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