Big Samsung is Watching You

December 8, 2008 2:36 PM

Is there a reason why Samsung requires me to register my name and address with them in order to recycle a toner cartridge?

The site states that some models of toner come with shipping labels packed in, but some do not. Mine was the latter. In order to get the label, I have to sign up... which I'll probably end up doing, but I am loathe to put my info in yet another company's DB.

My first guess is that they use such a thing to generate the return address on the label, but more practically, you are registering, not generating a label ad-hoc, so my gut instinct is that they are using this as a convenient excuse to get statistics about customers.

Isn't there an easier or, rather, more anonymous way?

posted by softsantear to technology (7 comments total)

Sorry, bad link. This is it.
posted by softsantear at 2:37 PM on December 8, 2008

In the US, the onus for recycling is on the consumer, not the vendor or manufacturer. Samsung is providing an essentially free service to you, so in return they'd like to harvest your data for marketing and demographic research.

You could try to get around this by using a fake name and a more generic address, such as a school or business. Or you could perhaps give them a call and ask them if they can just give you the address and you can pay to mail it back yourself.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:45 PM on December 8, 2008

If you're in the United States, Staples and Best Buy have in-store recycling, and there are some green charities that make some money from your used toner cartridge.

Samsung might be trying to track who sends in how many, possibly to tailor their mail-outs you'd receive. Unless you particularly want to send your materials back to Samsung, it seems there are alternatives.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:50 PM on December 8, 2008

You are correct. It's just marketing. They want to know where people are more likely to buy their products and/or recycle them. And maybe send you ads in the mail.

You can often recycle toner cartridges at places like Staples or Office Depot (if you're in the US) and they dont ask those questions. If you are looking to get it refilled at the same time, there are ink and toner refilling places around - you just have to look.
posted by elendil71 at 2:50 PM on December 8, 2008

You need to put in a valid city/state/ZIP combo, otherwise it won't generate the label. That seems to be the only requirement. They don't seem to be using different mailing addresses for different geographies: both CA and CT went to NY. They do print what you type in as the return address on the label, and you get redirected immediately to the FedEx site.

If you want something to put in, the To address on the label it prints is probably harmless to use:

21 Lasalle Ave
Buffalo, NY 14214
posted by smackfu at 2:51 PM on December 8, 2008

Thanks, pals.
I feel dumb because everything mentioned was something I considered, but I didn't spend the extra two minutes to research those avenues.
I'll dump it at one of those big box stores next time I am near one.
posted by softsantear at 2:57 PM on December 8, 2008

And not only can you drop it off at your local Office Depot, they offer a free pack of recycled paper for it! Just drop off your cartridge and pick up the paper, no signing anything or giving information required.
posted by Night_owl at 11:31 PM on December 8, 2008