Originally published June 12, 2006 in MeetingNews
The handling and protection of personal attendee information is an increasingly worrisome issue for meeting planners. Now, the stakes are being raised as some hotels are putting into meetings contracts clauses that allow them to disseminate data on attendees to whomever they choose.
Such a clause was posted recently in the MiForum on this website by an association planner in California who was perplexed when he saw the clause in a contract. The hotel reserved the right to disseminate his group members' information to third parties for "any lawful, business purpose."
Moreover, the provision stated that the hotel would be indemnified from any liabilities resulting from the use of the group's and attendees' information.
Not all contract clauses addressing the dissemination of attendee data are so aggressive. Other hotels are including language that allows them only to provide information upon request by the federal government, which in some cases has asked for information on hotels' guests for national security purposes.
The concerned planner who made the MiForum post addressed the clause with the property, with which he has worked for several years. The hotel, acknowledging the provision had been questioned by other planners, revised the clause, he said.
"I think the language was broad enough that it would allow the hotel to sell the information to third parties," said the planner. "The revised clause is somewhat narrower, but still not narrow enough to suit my taste."
The planner at MN press time had asked his group's legal counsel to review the contract, but remained concerned that the contract clause if it were decided to be disclosed to association members in registration materials might discourage some from attending the event.
Kelly Bagnall, an attorney with Dallas-based Brown McCarroll LLP, who works with hotel management companies and hotel owners, said such aggressive language has become fairly common in contracts recently. She herself has drafted clauses providing for varying degrees of data dissemination rights and levels of indemnity. However, the complete indemnity provided for in the case described above is uncommon.
"I don't see release information language absolving a party from legal binding very often in contracts; the level of indemnity varies from hotel to hotel," Bagnall said. "But with third parties having an increasing role in organizing events, there's going to be a need for data disclosure. A certain amount of info has to be released for the vendors to conduct business."
She added that the hotel in the scenario in question likely was taking a proactive approach to gain leverage in the contract-negotiation process.
Many organizations particularly those in the financial and pharmaceutical industries have aggressive data confidentiality clauses in their hotel contracts, and hotels can be equally aggressive, according to Bagnall. "Most times, hotels are adding contractual language in response to what they're seeing in groups' contract addendums," she said.
Clearly, planners are growing concerned with such policies and how their group and attendee information is handled. Some even are resigned to the premise that data is being sold, regardless of whether the practice is covered in a hotel contract.
"If there is a silver lining to [the case in question], it's that they're at least saying the information is being used," said Doug Wear, president of Wear & Associates, a Seattle association management company.
Wear said one reason the issue is of concern to him is that after signing some hotel contracts, he received unsolicited and unwanted offers from audiovisual and catering companies.
Planners should try to negotiate into contracts the right to approve any specific use of attendee information by hotels, several people interviewed for this article said.
"The use of client information should be acknowledged, but the hotel should be asking for permission," said Wear.
Washington, D.C.-based meetings consultant Joan Eisenstodt expects that planners will continue to see more such data-usage clauses. "Unless you don't have a credit card or use a phone, none of us really has any privacy anymore," she said.