Get Yourself Removed From Mailing List

[Guest Stacy Peña]

ProQuo Inc., a company founded to help consumers control their personal information, today announced a new, free website that helps consumers manage how businesses use their personal information―like their name, address, credit worthiness and buying habits―to market to them.

 

Through an easy-to-use web site that explains major lists used by thousands of organizations to market to consumers, ProQuo gives consumers meaningful choice over the postal mail they receive. At www.proquo.com, consumers select which specific types of paper mail to stop and which to continue receiving. For example, a consumer may want to stop receiving pre-approved credit card offers but to continue receiving coupons. Any information a consumer provides to ProQuo is owned by the consumer and is never shared without that consumer’s express consent.

 

“There is a ten billion dollar industry profiting from the trading and selling of consumers’ personal information—without consumers’ knowledge or their consent,” said Steven Gal, CEO of ProQuo. “Most businesses in this industry make it much too difficult for consumers to request removal from mailing lists, and there are far too many lists for consumers to even find all of them.”

 

Using an intuitive online “dashboard,” users of ProQuo have complete control over which lists they request removal from. These include lists used to send marketing, credit card, mortgage and insurance offers, weekly circulars, coupons and political campaign materials. ProQuo then helps consumers remove their personal information from these lists, for free.

 

“We know that the marketing lists and databases used by many companies can be purchased or electronically breached by identity thieves. We also know that identity theft can occur when criminals get hold of marketing mail with personal information on it,” said Jay Foley, director and co-founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center®. “The ProQuo service is a meaningful, proactive step consumers can take toward protecting themselves against identity theft. In fact, the members of Identity Theft Resource Center management team were the first people to sign up for the service.”

 

The marketing list removal service designed to filter postal mail is available to consumers starting today. Over time, ProQuo will offer consumers additional services to help them get the special offers they do want from companies via postal mail or e-mail, but never without first obtaining express consent.

 

“We think consumers know what they want, and we’re here to give them the opportunity to decide” said Gal. “It’s about time they were empowered to make these choices for themselves.”

 

About ProQuo, Inc.

ProQuo was founded to put consumers in control of their personal information, letting them decide if and how businesses use it. ProQuo helps consumers stop the mail they don’t want and get the offers they really do want. With headquarters in La Jolla, California, ProQuo is funded by Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

 

http://www.proquo.com