Warnings over personal information use in marketing

A majority of those within the marketing sector have lost customer information considered to be confidential over a period spanning the last 24 months, it has been claimed, in a warning to those with direct marketing jobs.

According to the findings of a study by StrongMail, a firm specialising in data protection, over the two-year period, three of every five marketing-sector employees have lost sensitive information on customers.

The study was conducted in partnership with the Ponemon Institute, a think-tank with an interest in privacy.

"The fact is, marketers are much more aggressive users of information than their privacy-focused colleagues believe," said the Ponemon Institute, in a report by Forbes.

"Privacy and compliance people tend to think they're more important than marketing people think they are."

The study's findings, which are based upon the responses of 500 professionals within the marketing sector, also incorporated data that respondents had labelled as stolen.

It was also noted that some in the profession have revealed a number of pieces of personal information about customers, including religious beliefs and sexual orientation.

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