Anyone with an e-mail address knows the annoyance of receiving unsolicited advertisements every day, and any effort to lessen the frustration of junk e-mail is welcome.

Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm is initiating a fight against the intrusive marketing.

She issued an alert this month to let consumers know that Ameritech will be sharing customer information with its parent company, SBC Communications Inc.

This step is part of an effort to ensure consumers have more control over their personal information and create more barriers between marketers and their targets.

The fight against junk e-mail is a technologically advanced extension of the attempt to contend with telemarketers and unsolicited mail. It is commendable that officials are aware of this problem, which is becoming more and more prevalent.

The main concern is the issue of privacy. It is an invasion of personal privacy to receive these advertisements, and even more so for companies to give away, or sell, personal data.

We applaud the effort of state officials to fix this problem, but the effort could be futile. The problem of junk e-mail is so substantial, it is hard to imagine it ever being completely eliminated.

Part of the solution could be consumer awareness. Subscribing to Internet accounts will probably result in junk e-mail. The same is true of any form filled out asking for an e-mail address.

Sometimes there are ways to unsubscribe from junk e-mail or avoid it altogether. Many advertisements provide a Web site to go to remove an e-mail address from the list. E-mail users should do their part by unsubscribing themselves whenever possible.

But most of the problem lies with the companies. They should respect the privacy of consumers by not giving away private information. If they can’t be ethical enough to respect privacy on their own, we thank state officials for stepping in.

Maybe this fight is useless, and consumers will always have advertisements invading their personal space and time. But at least officials are aware of the problem, and working to help stop it.