Junk mail is a pain for all of us, but in Britain, what's really bugging people is that it's being so personally targeted into their homes. What's more, marketing firms are buying up names and addresses from a place most would assume holds their details safely under lock and key.
Each year, individuals and private firms receive 12 billion of advertising letters, that is, more than 400 for the average English family. Getting the post, delivered these days is less by letters from France or even bills it now a direct advertising offensive to your own front door. So, who is selling your name and address?
Nowadays mail becomes less popular, it rarely delivers letters from friends or the ever-growing bills. The fact that the local authorities are selling personal information of citizens to various companies became known. Civil rights protection organization, called Big Brother Watch has revealed the following information: the last five years 300 British town councils were regularly selling personal information of citizens to private companies and entrepreneurs, the total number of more than 2.7 thousand.
"I could not even imagine that it's a huge amount of junk mail we get from the fact that the city council sells our data to third parties. I think it's just awful. It shouldn’t be," says a middle-aged British woman.
Axarhöfði 14,
110 Reykjavik, Iceland