Skittish Researchers

Normally I'm pretty mellow and forgiving of people.


Today? Not so much. I have to admit, I am VERY low on patience today and being very busy as well, some one giving me a birthday card would turn me from this:

 into this:

 

I have been following the WSJ series "What They Know" out of personal interest and academic curiosity. The article they published this morning discusses the current administration's call for instituting privacy laws on the internet. This IS a good thing.

I come into my office and find an email from another Prospect Researcher:

I wanted to bang my head against the wall. I immediately wrote a response that I promptly saved as an email draft so as not to emasculate this poor soul. It goes as follows:

Dear  _______,

While people should be educated about our industry [prospect research], I don’t think we should over react to this series of articles. I have been following it in WSJ for a personal research project. This series has been ongoing and focuses on Internet marketers in the for-profit sector, who construct databases with personally identifiable information (thereby jeopardizing anonymity). I’m sure the government is well aware of our profession since they use the same methods in raising campaign funds and deciding what areas to visit most.

While database construction might be hampered a bit for a year or two, these information companies will find new ways around laws on obtaining information (think of how the gov’t put laws in place to regulate the trade of Futures; what was the financial world’s answer? Derivatives.)

Happy Friday,

LT 

It sits in my Saved Drafts folder in my MS Outlook. And there it shall remain...


Happy Friday!!!!

[Note: APRA is the main professional assn. for Prospect Researchers.]