My recent column about Ticketmaster and its privacy policy has prompted a number of readers to point out other companies with dubious privacy policies of their own.
Just about the same time my Ticketmaster column appeared, Priceline.com came out with a new privacy policy that specifically gives it permission to send ads for third parties. A new section in the Priceline privacy policy reads:
“Advertisements, Marketing Material and Other Offers: Unless you tell us that you do not want to receive these offers, priceline.com will occasionally send advertisements, marketing material or other offers on behalf of other businesses that we think might be of interest to you. This material is sent by priceline.com, and we do not give that other business your name or address.”
At least Priceline.com still allows customers to opt out. One company that apparently does not is AmeriSuites and its parent company, Prime Hospitality. Their privacy policy states that your "Personal Identity Information" can he shared with others:
”From time to time we will have agreements with other services and companies that may wish to send you information about their products or services (a ‘Marketing Use’).
The AmeriSuites privacy policy, however, contains no opt-out mechanism. When the reader who spotted it e-mailed AmeriSuites to ask how he could keep from being spammed, the best solution they could come up with was to suggest he enter a phony e-mail address.
5:40:45 PM 
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