Controversy has arisen recently regarding an email blast sent from the White House. In an exchange between Robert Gibbs and reporter Major Garrett, it seems as if Gibbs didn't really know how to answer the question. Apparently, people who never subscribed to White House emails actually received emails from 1600 discussing health care. Now, it's appearing that what had happened was that outside groups took email lists and subscribed individuals to the White House email lists without their knowledge.

This, of course, can easily be prevented. To subscribe to emails from the White House, all that's required is a first name and an email address. That's it. This is called single opt-in and is easy for scammers/spammers. What could have prevented this embarrassing episode was some sort of email verification - double opt-in. Single opt-in obviously allows you to collect more email addresses, especially since legitimate sign ups sometimes won't verify their email, but to have the cleanest list possible, double opt-in is the way to go.