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Media matters: Caroline Roberts

22/ 7/2008

THE Direct Marketing Association is concerned about the Data Sharing Review Report recommendation that the edited version of the electoral register should be abolished.

Principle 4 of the Data Protection Act 1998 states that "personal information must be accurate and up to date."

Marketers, therefore, have a legal responsibility to ensure that they comply with data protection law and meet consumer expectations. The edited electoral register, as a continually updated nationwide register of the whole of the UK population, is an essential tool for cleaning and verifying existing data and making sure that it is accurate and up to date.

The edited electoral register has been available since 2002 and people have a straight choice every year about whether they want to opt their name and address out of the edited register.

Since 2002, some householders have opted out but around 60 per cent have chosen to remain on the edited register.

We have no evidence which would support the report's assertion that "the language used on these forms can be confusing and many people do not realise that it is the edited register that is on public sale"

Everyone agrees that direct mail should be correctly targeted and access to the edited electoral register is an efficient way of verifying data to do just that.

Marketers use data from many different sources to help with accurate targeting (such as lifestyle surveys, loyalty schemes and customer information forms) and the edited register is an additional layer to ensure data accuracy.

As an industry we are quite rightly called upon to limit the amount of waste paper we produce.

Using appropriate targeting techniques, such as cleansing data and suppression files, is in line with our environmental agenda, including our producer responsibility obligations agreed with government.

Removing access to the edited register for data cleaning purposes will make it harder for marketers to target accurately and effectively.

We therefore disagree with Recommendation 19 of the Review as the edited register does serve a purpose, and so should not be abolished.

Caroline Roberts is director of public and legal affairs at The Direct Marketing Association.