CONSUMER INFORMATION

We’ve created this resource to provide consumers with valuable information about Epsilon’s marketing practices, consumer privacy and protecting consumer personal information. We strive to provide our consumers with transparency and choice.

CONSUMER RESOURCES

We offer several guides and tools here with information about our industry and practices to help bring transparency. In our guide to Epsilon direct marketing, you’ll find information on how Epsilon uses the data we collect, how to opt out of information sharing and other valuable topics. The Epsilon marketing FAQs provide additional information and act as supplements to our consumer guide.

Additionally, you can request access to Epsilon’s marketing data summary of the information we have in our databases about your household. We provide this service free of charge.

CONSUMER CHOICE

Consumers have the ability to opt out of receiving direct marketing that Epsilon enables. In our consumer preference center, you can find information on Epsilon’s privacy practices, including information on how to opt out of the various services we provide.

For more information, download:

• Useful Contact Information
• Glossary of Terms

GUIDE TO EPSILON DIRECT MARKETING

Protecting consumer privacy and promoting trust in marketing is important to Epsilon.

It’s our business to help companies reach consumers who are interested in their products or services. We’re committed to balancing the information needs of businesses with the privacy concerns of individuals. This guide helps explain our direct marketing practices and informs you about the choices you have concerning the use of your information for direct marketing purposes.

What’s Epsilon, and what direct marketing does Epsilon do?

Epsilon is a marketing company with offices around the world. We’ve been in business for 50 years. Many companies that sell products that you may use every day have been working with us to improve their marketing efforts. We help companies and nonprofit organizations build better relationships with their customers and find new customers for their products or services.

Companies may come to Epsilon to get more information about their current customers or to obtain information about potential customers who may be interested in their products or services. This information helps make the advertising more relevant and enables a company to send you offers more tailored to the things that interest you. Companies want to find the best fit for their products, and Epsilon helps them determine their optimal target market. This benefits you, as the offers you receive will be more tailored to things you might be interested in. This process also helps companies control costs, since they focus their efforts on sending materials to people interested in their products.

What types of consumer information does Epsilon have?

Epsilon’s databases have consumer information related to household purchases, demographics and interests, and self-reported information about consumers and their households. We obtain information from a number of sources, and we use quality-control procedures to help identify inaccurate or out-of-date information.

Our household purchase database contains consumer names and addresses, along with generalized household purchase information, to help understand the types of purchases people make. Our clients (mostly catalog and retail companies, but also nonprofit organizations, publishers and others) contribute information about their customers in exchange for information about prospective customers who may be interested in their products.

We filter household purchases into categories. This information helps Epsilon and our clients narrow your preferences and interests based on where your household shops, the categories of products and services bought, and the nonprofit organizations you support. For example, if you buy children’s clothing, your household will likely be in the category of children’s apparel and merchandise, and you may receive catalogs of children’s clothing in the mail.

How does Epsilon use information to model and create groups of consumers? What are niches?

We use the information described above to group consumers who have similar interests into niches. Niches are groups, or segments, of thousands of consumers who share similar buying patterns or interests. The information is then modeled with sophisticated mathematical algorithms, based on informed guesses about what the segment of consumers might be interested in buying next. Niches help companies save money and resources by only marketing to groups of people likely to be interested in their products.

What kinds of information are not part of these databases?

Epsilon does not have Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers or other financial accounts, credit card numbers or password information. We also don’t have health-related information, unless you voluntarily provided health-related information through the customer surveys mentioned earlier.

How can I opt out of Epsilon’s information sharing?

You can contact Epsilon directly and request not to receive marketing mailings that result from Epsilon data.

By opting out with us, you’re opting out of Epsilon’s marketing databases only, not databases belonging to other companies. Other companies similar to Epsilon provide consumer information to marketers for marketing purposes, and you should also opt out with them if you don’t want your information shared for marketing purposes.

It’s important to understand that when you opt out with Epsilon, we don’t delete your information. We mark it on our databases as “Do Not Share.” We do this because if your information is deleted, in the future, we would have no way to know that you requested that your information not be shared. When you’re marked as “Do Not Share,” we’ll know that you didn’t want your information shared in case your information is later resubmitted. We want to be sure that consumers’ requests are honored until we’re told of a change.

How can I see what information Epsilon has about me?

We’re happy to provide you with information that Epsilon has in our databases about your household. If you have questions about this information, you can contact our Privacy Department at (866) 267-3861.

For your protection, we’ll first need to verify your identity, as we want to make sure information is not shared with someone else. Similarly, we can’t provide unverified access to another household’s information. If you’re receiving mail for someone who doesn’t live at your address, please contact Epsilon and we’ll opt that person out of our databases. Or you can register them with the DMA Mail Preference Service discussed above.

A note for our valuable clients and their consumers:

Epsilon will never offer a download tool or a link to determine if your information has been compromised. All communication will be conducted with our clients through normal business channels. Epsilon will never ask you to validate who you are by requiring you to reveal personal information to access a webpage or download. At no point should you divulge your personal information, such as bank account information, license or ID numbers, Social Security numbers or credit card information to gain access to your personal information.

For more information about direct marketing, please download: Guide to Direct Marketing

Ask a question or contact us

For additional information about Epsilon’s privacy and information practices, please contact us.

Epsilon
Telephone: (866) 267-3861
Request form: Opt-out
Online: Epsilon Privacy Policy

EPSILON MARKETING FAQs

How can I see what information Epsilon has?

If you have questions about the information Epsilon has about your household, you can complete the Epsilon marketing data summary request form. We’ll give you a summary of the information Epsilon has about your household in our marketing databases.

What does Epsilon do with marketing data?

Companies may come to Epsilon to get more information about their current customers or to obtain information about potential customers. This information helps make the advertising more relevant, based on an individual’s interests. Epsilon is able to help companies ensure that their marketing communications are sent to the most interested individuals. This process helps companies control costs, since they focus efforts on sending materials to people interested in their products. When companies are able to market directly to you, you benefit by potentially receiving special offers and promotions, free services and offers that marketers think are more relevant to you.

What does Epsilon not do with marketing data?

Epsilon doesn’t use marketing data for any purpose other than marketing. This means that we only help companies use data from our databases for the purpose of providing existing and potential customers with opportunities to buy products or services or to contribute to charitable causes. We never provide our data for individual consumer use. For example, if a consumer were to request information about a neighbor or coworker, we wouldn’t provide it. Epsilon doesn’t provide individual look-up products or services, and doesn’t allow clients to use Epsilon’s marketing data for activities such as granting credit, performing employment background checks or obtaining health insurance rates. Additionally, Epsilon doesn’t knowingly allow marketing to children under the age of 18.

What types of consumer information does Epsilon have?

Epsilon’s databases have consumer information related to household purchases, demographics and interests, and self-reported information about consumers and their households. Epsilon obtains information from a number of sources. To learn more about the types of consumer information, please refer to the guide to Epsilon direct marketing.

What kinds of information are not part of these databases?

Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers or other financial accounts, credit card numbers or password information. Epsilon also doesn’t have health-related information, unless you voluntarily provided health-related information through our customer surveys.

How do I opt out of information sharing?

If you decide that you aren’t interested in the benefits of direct marketing, you can opt out of Epsilon sharing your information with other companies. There are a number of ways to opt out, but no universal way to do so. For more information on opting out, visit Epsilon’s consumer preference center.

By opting out of information sharing, will I stop receiving all unwanted marketing offers?

By opting out of our databases, you should see a reduction in unwanted marketing offers you receive, but you won’t stop receiving all unwanted marketing offers. It may take several weeks or months for your opt-out to go into effect, depending on the planning cycle for the marketing offer. Advertisers begin their process several months in advance of actually sending a mail piece, so names and addresses that later opt out may already have been provided.

By opting out with Epsilon, you’re opting out of Epsilon’s marketing databases only, not databases belonging to other companies. There are other companies similar to Epsilon that provide consumer information to marketers for marketing purposes, and you should also opt out with them if you don’t want your information shared for marketing purposes. You can also ask the companies you do business with not to share your information.

The simplest way to opt out of information sharing and to reduce the amount of unwanted marketing offers in the U.S. is to register with the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA’s) mail preference service. When you enter your name and address on the site, companies that are members of the DMA and non-member companies that use this service will remove consumers whose names and addresses are present.

How can I keep myself safe from fraud and identity theft?

Unfortunately, fraud and identity theft are common occurrences in today's marketplace. Criminals and thieves use multiple tactics to obtain personal information about an individual that can later be used to commit fraud or identity theft. The effects can be crushing and take years to remedy.

The FTC is committed to educating consumers on protecting themselves from identity theft and other related crimes. Visit their Identity Theft webpage to learn more. And for more information, please download: Fraud and Identity Theft

Who can I contact for more information?

There’s a variety of industry resources for consumers. For more information, please visit Epsilon’s consumer preference center below.

CONSUMER PREFERENCE CENTER

Epsilon believes you should understand how data about you is provided to and used by Epsilon for marketing purposes.

Epsilon provides companies with tools to bring relevant marketing offers to consumers. Our business is to help companies reach consumers who are interested in their products or services. One way we do so is by providing consumer information to other companies so that they can send you offers that may be of interest to you.

Epsilon believes you should understand how data about you is provided to and used by Epsilon for marketing purposes.

We believe that the more informed you are about the use of your data for marketing purposes, the more you can enjoy the many benefits afforded by the appropriate use of your information. We have created this Consumer Preference Center, and our guide to Epsilon direct marketing, to inform you about our use of consumer information for direct marketing purposes.

This Consumer Preference Center and the guide apply to our direct marketing and database services that we provide to our clients. This privacy policy does not apply to data collected through our corporate website. For more information about data collected on our website, please visit our privacy policy.

As a consumer, you have the ability to opt out of receiving direct marketing that Epsilon enables. You may opt out by following the steps provided below. Opting out of Epsilon’s marketing databases will stop the delivery of some direct marketing, but won’t eliminate all ad offers or even all relevant offers.

Opting out of email from clients of Epsilon

Epsilon is an email service provider. Our clients provide us with their customer email addresses in order for us to perform email services and deploy emails on behalf of our clients.

Epsilon may also aggregate email and email activity data to serve more relevant marketing emails for our clients’ global email campaigns. This data is not disclosed to our marketing partners, and Epsilon doesn’t disclose email addresses to third parties.

Epsilon does not in any way own this data and is therefore unable and unauthorised to remove you from a client’s email list. If you’re a customer of an Epsilon client and would like to be removed from a client’s email list, you may use the unsubscribe mechanism within the email you receive, or you may contact the marketer directly and request that your email be removed. Please be aware that you may do business with several companies that are clients of Epsilon, and you must contact each to be removed from their email lists. Epsilon in no way sells or shares these email addresses with any company without consent.

About interest-based advertising

As you browse the internet or mobile apps, you may see ads on the websites or apps you visit based on your browsing history. For example, while you read a news article about visiting Paris, you may see an ad at the top of the webpage for a hotel in Paris. This type of relevant advertising is known as interest-based advertising. Interest-based advertising may be based on a variety of factors, such as websites or apps you visit, perceived interests and demographic information. The goal of interest-based advertising is to make the ad that you receive on your browser or mobile app more relevant to you so that you’re more likely to click on the ad, seek additional information on a product or service or make a purchase.

Interest-based advertising doesn’t result in you seeing more ads, but rather the ads you see should be more relevant to you.

Epsilon works with advertising partners on behalf of our clients to enable the delivery of relevant advertising to the appropriate consumers.

Epsilon may use data elements from our marketing databases to assist our clients in presenting the right offer to the appropriate consumer. For more information, please read our guide to Epsilon direct marketing. You may request access to your household’s information in Epsilon’s marketing databases by filling out and submitting our marketing data summary request form.

To learn more about interest-based advertising and your choices, please visit “Relevant Advertising Opt-Out” in the Choices and Access section of our privacy policy.

Opting out of Epsilon’s marketing databases

Epsilon respects your choice not to receive direct mail marketing. You may opt out of Epsilon’s marketing databases via email or postal mail to one of the addresses listed below.

North America
optout@epsilon.com

Epsilon
Attention: Privacy
P.O. Box 1478
Broomfield, CO 80038

EU and EEA region
emeaprivacy@epsilon.com

Epsilon International
Attention: Privacy
Teddington House
67 Broad Street
Teddington
Middlesex TW11 8QZ, U.K.

Asian-Pacific region
apac-privacy@epsilon.com

Epsilon International-APAC
Attention: Privacy
Room 2601, 26/F
Hopewell Center
183 Queen’s Road East
Wanchai, Hong Kong

Please be aware:

• By opting out of our marketing databases, you may stop receiving catalogs that you enjoy.
• Opting out of direct mail marketing from Epsilon will only stop mailings that originate with Epsilon. You may continue to receive direct mail, as companies often work with multiple companies like Epsilon. For privacy concerns, we don’t accept or process any third-party or service-provider requests for opt-outs.
• If you move or change your name, you’ll need to opt out again with your new address or name.
• By opting out with Epsilon, you’re opting out of Epsilon’s marketing databases only, not databases belonging to other companies. There are other companies similar to Epsilon that provide consumer information to marketers for marketing purposes, and you should also opt out with them if you don’t want your information shared for marketing purposes.
• When you opt out with Epsilon, Epsilon doesn’t delete your information but will retain the information necessary to remember your opt-out choice. We mark it on our databases as “Do Not Share.” When you’re marked as “Do Not Share,” Epsilon knows that you don’t want your information shared in the event that your information is later resubmitted to us. If your information were completely deleted, we would have no way to know you requested that your information not be shared in the future. We want to be sure that your requests are honoured until you tell us of a change.

Stop mail being sent to a deceased individual
U.S. consumers: DMA’s Deceased Do Not Contact List
Canadian consumers: CMA Do Not Mail List
U.K consumers: The Bereavement Register

You may also contact us directly at (888) 780-3869 with the full name, address and date of death, and we’ll remove the individual from our databases.

Contact us

If you have questions, including around Epsilon’s consumer preference center, please get in touch. Our email and postal addresses:

North America
privacy@epsilon.com

Epsilon
2550 Crescent Drive
Lafayette, CO 80026
Attn: Privacy Manager

EU and EEA region
emeaprivacy@epsilon.com

Epsilon International
Attention: Privacy
Teddington House
67 Broad Street
Teddington
Middlesex TW11 8QZ, UK

Asian-Pacific region
apac-privacy@epsilon.com

Epsilon International-APAC
Attention: Privacy
Room 2601, 26/F
Hopewell Centre
183 Queen’s Road East
Wanchai, Hong Kong

MARKETING DATA SUMMARY REQUEST

At Epsilon, we believe it’s important to provide consumers with clear information about the data in our marketing databases.

You may request access to information about your household contained in Epsilon’s marketing databases by filling out and submitting the online request form. Once we’ve received your form, we’ll confirm your identity with a series of test questions, and then mail your marketing data summary to the address you provide on the form. The information you provide will be used solely to process your request and will be shared only with a third party who will provide the test questions we’ll use to verify your identity.

Note that consumers outside the U.S. cannot request a marketing data summary using the online process. If you’re unable or prefer not to submit your request online, you can download the form, print and complete it offline, and submit it via the U.S. Postal Service.

If you have any questions, please contact us.