John,
You don't state which country you are in although....
The format YOU get the data in doesn't really matter as
long as it's disposed of safely afterwards. There are data houses that
you can buy a list like you're getting of 10,000 Florists in the South of
England or 25,000 Left Handed People in the TriState area for calling to sell
Left handed scissors.
There are however various criteria for numbers that can be called.
Domestically, in the UK there is the TPS (Telephone preference service)
and in the States the DNC (Do not call) list. These are land or mobile (cell)
customers who have opted out of receiving marketing calls, normally it's
a bad thing to call one of these opt out numbers as it can lead to the company
getting a very very nasty financial wrap on the knuckles. It's the companies
responsibility to make sure that the data is clean. This is normally done on a monthly basis.
For business numbers this normally isn't done and whilst it's bad practice within an outsourcer
to recycle data between campaigns (as you are alluding
to),
there's not actually anything illegal about it.
So to answer your question, if it's SME / Business there's nothing
wrong or if domestic as long as the data is clean (not opt out).
Provided....
The data is disposed of correctly after use.
The recycling of data is probably a little unethical if both
clients are being charged for the sourcing and cleaning
of the same data as has happened in the past. It's not unheard of to offer
a discount rate on recycled data though.
Hope this helps settle your mind, drop us a line back if you
need anymore information.
Regards
DaveA
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