Addresses and other personal data of potential customers are crucial for efficient direct marketing. With the help of the most accurate information possible on age, occupation, consumer behavior, etc., the risk of unsuccessful advertising can be minimized. There is a great willingness among the population to provide information. Even intimate data are disclosed if the respondents think they would make their data available for a scientific project. It seems to be particularly productive to conduct such surveys in connection with participation in a contest or sweepstakes, where the purpose of the data collection is not clearly evident. Thus, potential customers are induced to voluntarily hand over their data. Such covert commercial data collection (which has nothing to do with scientific institutes of opinion research) and therefore advertising measures that are not recognizable as such are inadmissible.
Source: FDPIC – Collection of personal data for marketing purposes