PR News is taking a survey on corporate social responisibility for an upcoming report. Its focus: “How are you communicating your Corporate Responsibility activities and initiatives? ”
PR News’ Ethics problem: to answer the survey, you have to give your name, address and phone number. They do not promise to send you a copy of the survey results. They do not list a privacy policy. So then, it would appear that the information is taken so you can be hounded with subscription and spronsorship requests. That does not seem ethical.
Not to single out only PR News, because many companies use this ploy. In the age of transparency, it would seem a given that people would be given a choice of whether and how they wish to be contacted. Does Sarbanes-Oxley address privacy issues?
PR News says
“Results from the survey below will be a step towards a better industry understanding of corporate strategies for communicating Corporate Responsibility programs and initiatives.”
A good place to start: add a privacy policy to the survey form.
