Canadian Spam Levels - Up? Down? You Be the Judge

spamfighter writes "Survey firm Ipsos-Reid has taken the interesting stance that spam to Canadians has been attenuated by 20% because of the federal privacy law PIPEDA which is so fearsome in nature that is scares off even the biggest- baddest spammers in other countries. CAUCE Canada has their doubts."

Comments

law and filters

[dirvish]

They also contribute the decrease to an increased use of spam filters by individuals and businesses: "New privacy laws and the use of spam filters by individuals and Internet providers helped lower the amount of unsolicited e-mail to 49 per cent of all electronic mail, down from 68 per cent in 2003." So, there might be just as much spam being sent...Canadians just aren't seeing as much because they are using filters.

Re:law and filters

[rs79]

The "average" Jane and John Doe is not a great metric; many ISP's do a reasonable job of spam filtering. Try an unfiltered box and look at traffic patters for a year for an accurate measurement. Users perceptions are not a reliable indication.

I'm in Canada and my filters are pretty simple. Spam was down a bit after xmas, but in the last two weeks it's about doubled. Again.

I get more than I did a year ago.

So, no, I would not by any stretch say spam is down. But I am getting much more efficient at deleteing it. Practice makes perfect and all that.

Some of my email addresses are 20 years old now. I probably get more than my share.

... no, try again.

[meisenst]

Speaking solely as a Canadian citizen, I get more spam today than I ever have in the past. This has nothing to do with the propagation (or lack thereof) of any law, but more the fact that my email address (or one of my email addresses, many of which forward) has been out on the Internet in lists and such for years now.

While the lists propagate, so will the spam. One of these days, whatever list(s) I am on may stop circulating, but I'm not holding my breath.