DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Coming out of the Santa Clara Westin, I was approached by an earnest women with a flyer in her hand. I usually avoid such solicitations, because people rarely want to give me anything of value — if they had anything valuable, they’d keep it for themselves, right?

This was a rare exception. The flyer proclaims:

Don’t give this hotel your home phone number, unless you like telemarketers.

Under a loophole in the federal “Do Not Call” legislation, businesses like Starwood are allowed to call people with whom they have an “existing business relationship.”

Every time you stay at a Westin, Sheratin, St. Regis, W or other Starwood hotel you’re giving them permission to call you about timeshares.

Assuming this is true, it illustrates one of the problems with “existing business relationship” clauses on privacy and marketing legislation.