Database marketing services provider Datran Media LLC settled with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for $1.1 million, though it admitted to no wrongdoing, DM News reports (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The settlement was a result of an alleged privacy breach of specific email lists when sending marketing messages on behalf of clients. The settlement said Datran obtained and knowingly used personally identifiable information from list providers that had promised consumers they wouldn't sell or rent such information.

One such instance involved millions of email records from Gratis Network LLC, which operates websites on which consumers sign up to try to earn free goods.

Datran spokesman Mark Naples said Datran discontinued this practice in the first half of 2005, before any inquiry from the attorney general, and added that many marketing and list owner companies continue to engage in the practice. In addition to the $1.1 million, Datran agreed to hire a chief privacy officer, destroy the data from list sellers and improve due diligence before buying lists.