KIA&B 2020 January/February 2020 | Page 10

MANAGE & LEAD CAN I TRADE OR SHARE MY EMAIL LIST? Acting on moments of desperation can cause more harm than good. By: Chrissey Breault The answer most of the time, is “NO!” Here’s why: Sharing your list could break the privacy policy you’ve created. When people subscribed to your organization’s email list, you probably told them in the fine print (i.e., your terms of service) that the organization would not share any information collected from website users with third-parties. Sharing any information, especially personal information 10 (e.g., an email address) that your clients, customers, members, and supporters have trusted you with, is likely a direct violation of the very privacy rules you’ve created. Sharing your list makes your organization appear untrustworthy. Your organization is required to protect any information that a customer shares. Even if you haven’t explicitly stated, customers assume that you will protect their data.