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We all know how frustrating it is to get 30 emails a day
promising to enlarge a certain body part (particularly when we don't
even possess one)! You wouldn't know it by your Inbox, but there are
actually stringent anti-spam guidelines in place - more stringent, in
fact, than the current federal and provincial privacy legislation.
So what the heck can you do about it?
The bad news is that the anti-spam guidelines really only affect
reputable senders. You can't stop unscrupulous people from sending you
spam. The good news is that there are some tricks that you can use to
help limit the amount of junk mail you get.
The first and most effective thing you can do is to purchase anti-spam
software. Norton Internet Security and McAfee Internet Security both
offer comprehensive anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spam features. You
can also get dedicated programs like SpamArrest, SpamKiller, and
others.
Microsoft Outlook 2003 and 2007 both contain good spam filters as well.
And many of the online mail services, such as Hotmail, Gmail, Webmail
or others, include automatic filters.
The problem with spam filters is that you still need to look through
the junk email, just to make sure that important email hasn't ended up
there by mistake. Wouldn't it be nicer to just receive LESS spam?
Here's what to do:
Whenever you're buying or signing up online, be sure to completely read
all the forms. Often, you'll find little checkboxes for "Please send me
promotional information", and other "opt-in" statements. Be sure to
uncheck those boxes unless you're interested in receiving more mail
from the company. Also, companies are required to tell you how they'll
use your personal information, and that description should be contained
in their privacy policy. If an online company doesn't supply a link to
their privacy policy, go elsewhere!
If you're able to have more than one email address, consider giving
your personal address only to trusted family, friends, and colleagues,
and set up another that you give out for online transactions or to
"doubtful" contacts. If you start getting too much spam at the
"doubtful" address, you can delete the address (and the accompanying
junk mail) and set up a new decoy address without affecting your
personal mail.
If you get an unsolicited email, see if it contains instructions on how
to opt out of future mailings. Reputable companies may send you
unsolicited email, but all email that conforms to the anti-spam
guidelines must contain the name, address, and contact information of
the sender, as well as a way for you to opt out. If you don't find a
way to contact the sender and/or opt out, add the address to the
Blocked Senders list in your anti-spam software.
Finally, if you have a website that contains your email contact
information, encode the email link in ASCII text (ask your web designer
about this), and select a more unusual contact email address. If my
domain name is BrightIdeasWeb.ca, a spammer can surmise that
"info@BrightIdeasWeb.ca" is probably a valid email address. Make it
harder for them to guess by using an unusual address like
"pleasecontactus@BrightIdeasWeb.ca".
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Article Directory
By: Diane Henders, Bright Ideas Personalized
Learning Inc. For more information or computer training services,
please call Bright Ideas Personalized Learning at (403) 692-2255.
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