Today we are unveiling special privacy form fields to Siteflex Forms. These privacy fields can easily be attached to any Form, their main purpose being to ensure website users can explicitly specify their desired interactions between them and the organisation. In other words, to avoid spam!
 

What is Spam?

Spam is a common term for unwanted message that a user has received in their email account or mobile phone.

According to Spam Act 2003, there are three main conditions that will be checked to consider a message as a spam.

• Consent: the message must be sent with the receivers' consent
• Identify: the message should identify whom it is coming from
• Unsubscribe: the message should have a way of allowing receiver to opt out from receiving any more messages from this source.
   

Original cartoon by Cox & Forkum

How does Siteflex privacy form field help?

The form fields that have been added to Siteflex Forms today can be used for getting consent from the person submitting the form. In other words, a person filling up your website's form can express their consent to either receive or not to receive email/sms campaigns using these fields. Users who have opted out to receive any communication from your website will not receive any marketing campaigns sent through Mailflex.
 

How to setup the privacy fields?

To include these privacy fields on Forms, you just need to enable the privacy checkbox in Siteflex Forms, then select which privacy fields you want to be added to your form. Similar to other form fields, these fields can be reordered as required.

Consent: Is it automatically given?

Providing privacy options is not enough, we have also considered what the default selection should be. Would a website user need to specify if they wanted to avoid being contacted, or would the website user specify that they actually wanted to be contacted?

One is clearly an attractive option for businesses, and one is probably the generally preferred option for website users. Thankfully we agree with the Spam Act, in that a website user should specify that they do want to be contacted.

For more information on Spam Act, please check out ACMA website