The system is being dubbed a "technology safety net" by its creators, science and technology firm QinetiQ and call screening and suppression systems specialist UK Data IT.
The system, e-mailGard, is designed to save companies money by removing the risk of fines and litigation from compliance breaches and help protect valuable corporate reputations.
A recent survey by Jupiter Media Matrix found that if email marketing continues to grow at current rates consumers can expect to receive an average of 1,400 marketing emails a day by 2006. The Privacy Directive seeks to stop this from happening by making it illegal for companies to contact individuals by email without first obtaining their permission.
The low-cost system will be available for trial from September, ahead of the October 31 deadline for companies to comply with the 2002 EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications.
The system manages the opt-in and opt-out files held by marketing departments and their agencies. Email campaigns are routed through the system and automatically screened against UK and global email preference services, as well as internal opt-out lists, in real time. Messages addressed to the non-consenting are simply blocked.
Sarah Stockman, technical director of Woodcote Executive and chair of cross-industry body the Data Protection Forum, said: "Spam is becoming a real global problem, at work and at home. Legislation is fine, but on its own it can't ever solve the problem. That's why a technology-based solution is so important -- something that not only helps companies to comply with the regulations, but also to improve customer service and, potentially, market share."
The e-mailGard system can be accessed using equipment installed on site or remotely, with all messages routed to secure QinetiQ servers for checking before being released to the chosen ISP for distribution.
John Glacken, managing director, UK DATA IT, said: "If you factor in the costs of possible litigation from people who register a preference not to receive spam but still receive it, then the savings from using e-mailGard would be vast."
He added: "Users will also have access to a strong audit trail, which could significantly reduce both the time required to investigate individual complaints and the number of potential fines that could be imposed."
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