WIREDGOV

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has served home improvement company, Amber Windows, with a £50,000 fine after an investigation discovered they had made unsolicited marketing calls to people who had registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS)   

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), which govern telephone marketing, prohibit making unsolicited telephone calls to people who have put their number on the TPS register. The ICO had received 524 complaints from people on the register between May 2011 and April 2013.

The ICO has also issued an Enforcement Notice against Amber Windows ordering them not to call subscribers who have previously told them not to ring or subscribers who have not consented to them calling and have registered the number with the TPS for at least the required 28 days

ICO Director of Operations, Simon Entwisle said:

“This fine shows companies running marketing campaigns cannot plague the lives of people who have expressly asked not to receive unsolicited calls. We wrote repeatedly to Amber Windows asking them to stop, they ignored us. Now they are facing a £50,000 penalty and a legally enforceable order to cease their unlawful practices.

“We will continue to target these companies that bombard households across the UK with nuisance calls and texts. We are also currently speaking with the government to get the legal bar lowered, allowing us to take action at a much earlier stage.”

Anyone can register with the Telephone Preference Service by going to their website or calling 0845 070 0707. Anyone receiving unsolicited telephone call who has registered should report it to the ICO using our online survey. Over 200,000 responses have been sent in since the survey was setup early last year and the information provided is being used to help identify those companies responsible.

The ICO has also published detailed guidance for direct marketers explaining their legal requirements under the Data Protection Act and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. The guidance covers the circumstances in which organisations are able to carry out marketing over the phone, by text, by email, by post or by fax.

Notes to Editors

1. Amber Windows is registered at Companies House as Amber UPVC Fabrications Ltd (Companies House No: 02815557)

2. The Information Commissioner’s Office upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.

3. The ICO has specific responsibilities set out in the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.

4. The ICO is on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and produces a monthly e-newsletter.

5. Anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles of the Data Protection Act, which make sure that personal information is:

• Fairly and lawfully processed
• Processed for limited purposes
• Adequate, relevant and not excessive
• Accurate and up to date
• Not kept for longer than is necessary
• Processed in line with your rights
• Secure
• Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection

6. Civil Monetary Penalties (CMPs) are subject to a right of appeal to the (First-tier Tribunal) General Regulatory Chamber against the imposition of the monetary penalty and/or the amount of the penalty specified in the monetary penalty notice.

7. Any monetary penalty is paid into the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund and is not kept by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

8. If you need more information, please contact the ICO press office on 0303 123 9070.