A data protection notice is a request to stop using your personal details for 'direct marketing purposes', made with reference to section 11 of the Data Protection Act. It's a legally binding demand to stop (or not begin) sending you junk mail. Organisations that ignore a data protection notice can be referred to the Information Commissioner's Office (the body enforcing the Data Protection Act).

The only downside of stopping junk mail using data protection notices is that it's a rather time consuming approach; you need to contact senders one by one, and keep track of who you've contacted and when. As a last resort, however, data protection notices are extremely useful. If you're constantly being sent junk mail by an organisation you can force them to stop. The Data Protection Act gives you a clear right not to receive junk mail and a tool to enforce it.

Issuing data protection notice is a rather formal affair, and your notice therefore needs to follow a number of guidelines set out by the Information Commissioner’s Office:

• Your notice needs to be in writing (this can be an e-mail).
• You need to make it clear that you're asking the organisation to stop (or not to begin) processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes in accordance with Section 11 the Data Protection Act 1998.
• Your notice needs to be dated.
• You need to give the organisation your full name and address.
• Your notice has to include a 'reasonable date' from which you want the organisation to stop processing your personal data. It's recommended that you give the organisation you're writing to 28 days to comply with your request. For instance, if you're sending your notice today, 4 February 2012, a 'reasonable date' would be 3 March 2012.

Example data protection notice

The Information Commissioner's Office suggests you write your notice as follows:

Only the elements between square brackets and printed in red need to be customised. Note that it's perfectly alright to send a data protection notice via e-mail. In fact, I recommend you send your notice via e-mail as you'll automatically have a copy of your notice and proof of posting.

After you've sent your notice

It's important to keep a copy of both the junk mail you've received and the notice you've sent. You'll need them should the organisation fail to comply and should you wish to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office. More information about how to make a complaint can be found on the website of the Information Commissioner's Office:

• ico.gov.uk/complaints/data_protection.aspx

Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office on 0303 123 1113. I've contacted them on several occasions myself an have always found them very helpful (which seems rare nowadays).

Stop Junk Mail is not just about giving information on stopping junk mail. There are many things that could be done to make reducing unsolicited mail easier (as I hope this guide demonstrates) and one of the aims of this website is to highlight those things.

If you'd ask me why reducing junk mail is unnecessarily complicated my answer would: industry self-regulation. Opt-out schemes such as the Mailing Preference Service are run by junk mailers. Consumer groups don't have a say in how the Mailing Preference Service functions, which is why the scheme is only half-effective.

The reason why data protection notices are effective is this: they're not part of the junk mail industry's self-regulatory framework. Instead they're covered by an Act of Parliament (the Data Protection Act). Voluntary industry scheme will always be just that; voluntary.

• You can download an example notice letter in the following file formats:
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • Portable Document Format (.pdf)
  • OpenOffice / LibreOffice (.odt)
• Junk mail and data protection notices (ico.gov.uk)
• How to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.gov.uk)