Information Commissioner's Office
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Worldwide fight to tackle nuisance messages intensifies

A global fight against nuisance calls and spam texts has stepped up a gear.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is among eleven enforcement authorities across the world which have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) committing to share intelligence about unwanted calls and messages.

Stephen Eckersley, ICO head of enforcement, said:

“Unlawful marketing calls and messages cause genuine fear, anxiety and frustration to citizens across the globe.  It is a global problem that does not respect borders, requiring a global effort to tackle it.

“This MoU means that authorities across the world, including the Information Commissioner’s Office, are now actively sharing intelligence. This will help us enforce the law and stop the scourge of nuisance calls and spam texts.”

The eleven signatories of the MoU are all members of the London Action Plan (LAP) group, which promotes cross-border intelligence-sharing and cooperation to fight the global problem of spam, scams and unsolicited messaging.

Along with the ICO, the other signatories are: ACM (the Netherlands), the ACMA (Australia), CRTC and OPC (Canada), FTC and FCC (United States of America), NTSIT (United Kingdom) and KISA (Korea), Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand) and National Consumer Commission (South Africa).

The MoU builds on ICO enforcement action to tackle nuisance calls and spam texts. In the last year the ICO has issued £2.3 million of fines, targeting companies responsible for more than 72 million nuisance calls and almost two million spam text messages.

There is advice on the ICO website on how people can stop nuisance calls and spam texts and how to report them.

The ICO’s direct marketing guidance offers advice to help responsible organisations keep within the law when sending advertising by electronic means, such as by telephone, email or text.

Notes to editors

  1. The Information Commissioner’s Office upholds information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
  2. The ICO has specific responsibilities set out in the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.
  3. The ICO can take action to change the behaviour of organisations and individuals that collect, use and keep personal information. This includes criminal prosecution, non-criminal enforcement and audit. The ICO has the power to impose a monetary penalty on a data controller of up to £500,000.
  4. 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; and
    • not transferred to other countries without adequate protection.
  5. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) sit alongside the Data Protection Act. They give people specific privacy rights in relation to electronic communications.
    1. There are specific rules on:
      • marketing calls, emails, texts and faxes;
      • cookies (and similar technologies);
      • keeping communications services secure; and
      • customer privacy as regards traffic and location data, itemised billing, line identification, and directory listings.
    2. We aim to help organisations comply with PECR and promote good practice by offering advice and guidance. We will take enforcement action against organisations that persistently ignore their obligations.
  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. To report a concern to the ICO telephone our helpline 0303 123 1113 or go toico.org.uk/concerns/.

 

Channel website: https://ico.org.uk/

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