How I figured it out.
AQuietEvening wanted to know how I found out who gave the Doubleday book club my email address. It was actually due to the misspelling of my name.
I knew I’d seen that particular misspelling somewhere before, but couldn’t place it. When I got home Friday, I started sorting my bills, getting things ready to be paid. The envelope for my book club was right on top. And there was my name, misspelled exactly the same way. A book club with the same misspelling? That was too much of a coincidence. They had to have given my name out!
Now, my current book club happens to have my email address because I have done a handful of online transactions with them. They use your email address as your user ID when you sign into their website. Everything suddenly fell into place. It made perfect sense how Doubleday had gotten hold of my email.
Since my book club had promised not to give out my email address when I signed up (along with promising no spam), I consider their actions to be tantemont to a breech of contract. Not that I can do anything about it except cancel them. I doubt they’re even going to notice my cancellation. Still, it makes me feel better. There’s other ways to get good prices on books nowadays (the options were limited thirty years ago, when I first joined the bookclub). There’s no reason for me to continue dealing with a company who doesn’t take their promises regarding on-line security seriously.