Real Life

Consumer: Inbox influx and driver licence pics

Unsubscribing from mailing lists can be a tangled web, and so can getting your picture taken.
Inbox spam

Photo: Will Horner / Bauersyndication.com.au

What can you do about businesses that send out promotional material online but don’t seem prepared to “unsubscribe” you? Every week I unsubscribe myself from stores’ mailing lists, yet the following week or month, back comes more spam.

The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act states clearly that electronic messages such as promotional material must contain a functioning unsubscribe facility. It must be clear and conspicuous, free and likely to be functional for 30 days after the message is received. And it must be possible to unsubscribe via the same medium in which the message was sent to you. They can’t ask you to post them a letter, for example.

When you unsubscribe, the business must send you a confirmation email within five days. This law, of course, is effective only in New Zealand. Dealing with firms from overseas is far more difficult, if not impossible.

Many readers will understand your frustration. All you can do, if it’s a New Zealand firm, is keep a note of when you unsubscribed, who the business is, what they were promoting in their message, and contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs about your concerns. If there is no facility to unsubscribe, you should take a note of that as well. Hopefully, the Ministry can then take action on your behalf.

I recently went into the Automobile Association to have my driver licence renewed. As well as filling in forms, I had to get a new ID photo taken. They told me there was too much reflection coming off the lenses of my glasses, and took my ID photo without them on. Now I have this rather odd picture of me without glasses on my new licence, which I hate. Were they right to tell me to take my glasses off for my ID photo?

A senior spokesman at the Automobile Association tells me that requiring someone to take off their glasses for their driver licence photo is a rare event.

There are strict driver licence photo criteria laid down by the NZ Transport Authority. But before telling you to take your glasses off, AA Centre staff are supposed to try a number of techniques to prevent the reflection, including turning off the flash, tilting the head slightly or moving the glasses slightly. The important thing is that your eyes are seen clearly. If you have strong lenses, this may also be an issue.

If the AA staff member did not go through these steps, and you don’t have particularly strong lenses, then the AA invites you to get back to them. They will attempt to take a new photo of you, this time with your glasses on. If they are successful, they will issue you with a new licence free. Excellent response, AA.

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