There are four opt-out schemes for junk mail in the UK; one for addressed mail; two for unaddressed mail; and one for charity marketing. The latter scheme is the Fundraising Preference Service, and it is a bit of an oddball. I will tackle that one separately.

None of junk mail opt-outs covered here are particularly effective, and one of them is a complete joke. The reason is that these "services" are run by the same people who send junk mail. As I explained in the article about how junk mail is regulated, the fox is guarding the henhouse — and the fox's primary interest isn't the welfare of the chickens.

The opt-out schemes share a few other distinctive features: they only cover items delivered by certain private companies and they lack written rules and third-party oversight. In other words, the junk mailers can make up the rules as they go along, and any complaints are dealt with by the junk mailers. Industry-run opt-out schemes don't have to work like that, but in the UK they do. It is how the junk mail industry in the UK wants opt-out scheme to function. They don't want people to opt out, and they therefore make sure its opt-out schemes are largely ineffective.

The Mailing Preference Service

I shall run through the three opt-out schemes in order of absurdity, starting with the least laughable opt-out. The Mailing Preference Service is an opt-out scheme for unsolicited, personally addressed junk mail run by the DMA. It dates back to 1983 and has had its own website (mpsonline.org.uk) since 2001.

When you register your name and address your details are added to the MPS suppression file. Any junk mailer can buy this file to make sure they don't target people registered with the service, but only members of the DMA are required to do so. This is in contrast to the Telephone Preferece Service (TPS). The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations make it illegal to make unsolicited sales calls or sent commercial text messages to numbers registered with the TPS (this is defined in Article 21(1) and Article 26 of the PECR). Of course, there are plenty of telemarketers who ignore the TPS. The Information Commissioner's Office, which enforces the PERC, is unlikely to take enforcement action, and even if it does it hands out minimal fines. That is a different discussion though. The point is: the TPS is backed up by statutory legislation, while the MPS isn't. The MPS is simply a voluntary industry scheme.

It is still worth signing up to the MPS. Just don't expect it to magically eradicate all addressed junk mail. It might make a small difference, in particular when it comes to profiling. List brokers such as Experian and Acxiom are members of the DMA and may respect MPS registrations. However, the MPS won't stop mailings from companies or charities you have dealt with the past. If you failed to opt out when giving your personal details to a marketer then the sender is allowed to pester you, even if you are registered with the MPS (it is considered a legitimate interest).

The service has a few other interesting limitations. For instance, the scheme makes an exception for junk mail addressed to generic addressees, such as "The Occupier". For many years, Virgin Media used this "To the Occupier loophole" to bypass the MPS. Every few weeks they would carpet bomb the nation, without having to worry about if recipients were opted out. The logic behind the loophole is that the MPS only covers personally addressed junk mail. Senders check their junk mail database against the names and addresses on the MPS suppression file, and they only suppress items if there is a match. So, there might be a match for "Joe Bloggs" at 10 Downing Street in London, but there won't be a match for "The Occupier" at the same address. To make sure the loophole can't be closed the MPS doesn't allow you to register the name "The Occupier". Its registration page says:

Please note that 'The Occupier' is not a valid surname/registration.

Of course, the loophole isn't a necessity. The DMA could give people the option to also say "no" to adverts sent to generic addressees. This could even be the default option, as it is extremely unlikely people signing up to MPS are interested in "To the Occupier" junk mail. Alas, the DMA much prefers an opt-out scheme with loopholes.

Similarly, how to deal with cases where isn't an exact match is up the sender's discretion. I just used the name Joe Bloggs at 10 Downing Street as an example. If that name at that address appears on the junk mailer's list then the advert should be suppressed. But what happens when the name on the list is "Joseph Bloggs"? The junk mailer gets to decide.

You can register up to five names at your address, so you can register common variations on your name. However, the MPS doesn't allow you to register initials — the name "J Bloggs" would be rejected. This is another deliberate loophole; senders have the option to bypass the MPS by using first name initials.

Other things to be aware of

It takes up to four months before your registration with the MPS is "fully effective". That is partly because the suppression file is published only once a month and partly because mail shots typically take months to prepare. Both arguments aren't convincing. Technically, it is not at all difficult to publish updates to the MPS suppression file in real time and senders could easily weed recent MPS subscribers before the junk mail is wheeled out to Royal Mail for delivery. The reason they don't do so is simply that it would cause junk mailers a minor inconvenience. Again, these practices happen when you let junk mailers run opt-out schemes.

On the bright side, registrations with the MPS don't expire. Until 2012 you had to renew your registration every five years but that is no longer the case. You will be registered in perpetuum. Also, they have made it very easy to de-register. If, in the words of the DMA, you have registered your name and address onto the MPS but are now happy to receive unsolicited sales and marketing correspondence then you can simply send an email to mps@dma.org.uk. They will then action this ASAP.

Royal Mail's Door-to-Door Opt-Out

Royal Mail is the largest leaflet distributor in the UK and runs an informal opt-out scheme for unaddressed mail items delivered by the company. It is commonly known as the Door-to-Door Opt-Out but that is only because I gave it that name — Royal Mail hasn't bothered naming its opt-out service. At the same it is probably the oldest opt-out scheme, though nobody really knows. It started as a list with addresses of junk mail haters that should be left alone — that is, people who would phone Royal Mail and threaten to post leaflets back to them. The opt-out only became public knowledge in 2006, when various newspapers reported the company had suspended a postman for the "crime" of telling people on his round that they could opt out.

Since, Royal Mail has included some information about opting out on its website. It includes the usual scare tactics (you may not receive material from Central and Local Government and other public bodies) and other discouragements (opting out […] will not necessarily reduce by a significant amount the number of items you'll receive). They also don't allow you to opt out online. Instead, you have to download an opt-out form, which you need to print and post back to ROYAL MAIL CUSTOMER SERVICES. The company insists they can't allow households to opt out online, as they would have no way to verify that those resident at the address have requested the opt out (sic). It has nothing to do with discouraging households from opting out. Honestly.

It may take up to six weeks for Royal Mail to process your opt-out request and your registration is valid for only two years. Royal Mail also doesn't guarantee they will stop delivering unaddressed mail items to your address — they will just make every effort — and there is no information on the Royal Mail website about how to complain if you continue to receive leaflets from your postie.

In short, this isn't really an opt-out scheme. They just make you jump through hoops, and the end result is likely to be that you get as much Royal Junk Mail as before. If you happen to have a printer and you are happy to put up with the scare tactics and other nonsense on the Royal Mail website then by all means opt out. Personally, though, I reckon a much easier and more effective way of dealing with all the unaddressed stuff delivered by Royal Mail is to either post it back to ROYAL MAIL CUSTOMER SERVICES or to simply deposit it in your nearest pillar box.

The DMA's Your Choice Dummy Scheme

I promised I would run through the industry opt-out scheme in order of absurdity and we have now reached the pinnacle. The Your Choice Preference Scheme for Unaddressed Mail, which I routinely call the Your Choice Dummy Scheme, was launched in 2008 as part of the voluntary producer responsibility agreement between the junk mail industry and Defra. The "service" is largely inspired by Royal Mail's opt-out scheme but takes customer-hostility to a whole new level.

As with Royal Mail's opt-out for unaddressed mail, Your Choice doesn't have its own website — instead there is a somewhat hidden page on the MPS website with information about both Royal Mail's opt-out scheme and Your Choice. You can't register with the service via the page — that would of course be way too easy. Instead, you need to first contact the DMA and ask them for details about the opt-out scheme. They will then send you an "information pack" via snail mail with lots of warnings about all the disasters that will unfold should you make the mistake of trying to stop unsolicited, unaddressed mail (the warnings are repeated on the "Registration Application Form" itself, just to make sure you get the message). The form itself needs to be signed, preferably in blood, and posted back to the DMA. They don't have a freepost address, so you also need to buy an envelope and stamp.

It takes a whopping four months before the opt-out becomes "fully effective" and after two years you need to apply again. There is no complaints procedure, but that kind of makes sense, as you have no way of knowing whether or not a leaflet you received should have been prevented. After all, how are you supposed to know if a leaflet was distributed by a company that is a member of the DMA?

Unsurprisingly, few households bother with the opt-out scheme. In April 2009, roughly 1,600 households were registered with the Your Choice Dummy Scheme. There are no recent figures but there is nothing to suggest the opt-out rate has increased. The DMA does nothing to push up registration numbers, and rightly so. Your Choice is a complete waste of time, for both junk mail haters and the DMA.