Solicitation & Privacy

Hi,

I live in Louisiana. I would like to know if I am given the right to request information from a solicitor in regards to who has provided them with my contact information.

Regards,
Mike

Yes, you can legally request this information. But, depending on who is doing the soliciting, and for what purpose, you may not get an answer, often because they may not know.

Lists of consumers are sold frequently, or the consumer lists are used by a company you have done business with to try and interest you in something else they offer. If you purchase a magazine subscription on home decorating, for instance, the magazine publisher may use your name, address and phone number to try and interest you in additional magazines, say, on home repairs or old homes or garden magazines. Or they may sell their list to a mortgage or homeowners insurance company. Banks may sell their customer lists (often unless you "opt out"), or they may use their lists to try and interest you in other financial services they offer.

The theory behind the sale of customer lists is that a customer, interested in one subject or service or whatever, may be interested in other similar subjects or services or whatever. And then there are companies who will sell their customer lists to anyone willing to pay for them. Or your name and number may be acquired from straight out of the phone book (which is often the source used for some of the most annoying calls - like scam calls).

At any rate, the callers doing the soliciting may be working for a company that purchased a list but may not be privy to the inner workings of the company and may have no idea where the list they are calling from originated.

By the way, if you are annoyed by unwanted callers and/or unwanted "junk" mail, there is a partial solution. Add your phone number to the Do Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov) and contact Direct Marketing Service to reduce or eliminate junk mail.