#10: ICO responds

27 March 2012

Case Reference Number ELE0438163

 Dear Mr XXXXXX,
 Thank you for your correspondence about Southwark Liberal Democrats and the difficulties you have had in unsubscribing from their emails.
 
What we do
 The Information Commissioner’s Office regulates the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR).  The PECR are concerned with the way organisations send marketing material by fax, text, email and telephone.  Marketing can include the promotion of goods, services, aims or ideals.
 
Direct marketing emails
 Regulation 22 of the PECR says that unsolicited direct marketing emails cannot be sent to individual subscribers (including sole traders and non-limited liability partnerships) without prior consent.
 
 There is a very limited exception to this rule where an organisation can satisfy all of the following criteria:
 
  the organisation has collected the individual’s email address whilst selling/negotiating to sell something to the individual; and
  the organisation only sends marketing emails for its own goods or services similar to those originally sold; and
  the individual was able to opt out (free of charge) from receiving marketing in the original transaction, and in each subsequent marketing email.
 
 Regulation 23 says that senders must not conceal their identity when sending marketing emails to any subscribers and must provide a valid marketing opt out address.
 
 In most cases our approach to complaints is to educate organisations to help them understand what the PECR require.  We will also advise them to take any steps necessary to comply with the PECR in future. 
 
Next steps
 I have now written to Southwark Liberal Democrats to inform them of their obligations under the PECR and to ask them to suppress your email address from their databases.  This suppression should not take any longer than 28 days and should ensure that they do not email you again.
 
 If you receive any further marketing emails from the same organisation after 28 days have elapsed then please write to us, quoting the reference number above and forwarding a copy of the relevant marketing email.
 
 Although we are not taking further action at this time we will keep a record of your complaint.  The information we gather from these complaints may assist us with enforcement action in the future.
 
 Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.


 Yours sincerely,

 Case Officer (First  Contact Group)


To find out how the SLDs reacted to such a communication, read on by clicking HERE