The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK handed out ten direct marketing fines in the last year. We’ve all received annoying direct marketing calls at some point in our lives but for some organisations direct marketing is vital. If you are an organisation that needs direct marketing or offers direct marketing services, you need to learn how to conduct direct marketing lawfully. In this post, we analyse ICO’s fines with the aim to provide you with valuable insights and practical guidance on how to navigate direct marketing regulations and avoid receiving similar fines.

Opt-out registries

Many regions have opt-out lists or registries where individuals are able to say no to receiving direct marketing. For example, the UK has Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and South Africa’s Direct Marketing Association of South Africa (DMASA) has the Do Not Contact (DNC) list. As an organisation, you cannot call individuals on these lists to market your products or services to them. Despite this, some organisations still try to contact individuals on these lists.

Should individuals receive any direct marketing communications after they’ve opted out, regulatory authorities, such as ICO, may issue a fine to the marketing organisation. This is one of the emerging trends we’ve seen recently. ICO handed out ten fines in the last year. Seven of these ten fines were for marketing to people who had opted out of receiving direct marketing.

Key themes of ICO’s direct marketing fines

Staff awareness and training

In May of 2023, ICO fined a telecommunications company £80,000 and issued an enforcement notice ordering the company to stop making calls to TPS registered numbers.

ICO engaged with the telecommunications company prior to issuing the fine and enforcement notice. During this period, the telecommunications company conducted its own internal investigation which revealed that staff had committed a number of policy violations by calling TPS registered numbers. The telecommunications company was, however, unable to provide proof of internal policies or communications to staff about calling numbers on the TPS registries.

This highlights the importance of having proper policies in place to guide marketing practices within your organisation but more importantly the need for adequate staff awareness and training on those policies.

Check opt-out registries

ICO fined another company £70,000 for making 21 347 direct marketing calls to numbers registered on TPS in nine months. During the investigation, this company claimed that it did not source the phone numbers themselves. Rather, the company bought the data from another company which screened all data sold against the TPS registry. Despite this, complainants who had registered their numbers on TPS still received direct marketing calls. The company was unable to produce proof that the data it had bought did not contain TPS registered numbers.

This is a word of caution to all organisations buying data from third parties to use in their marketing practices to check the data against the relevant registries before making any calls. You cannot take for granted that third parties checked your marketing database. You should consider the contracts around purchasing marketing databases carefully to protect your organisation against unlawful marketing databases.

Heed warnings

TPS gave numerous warnings to companies to stop their direct marketing to registered numbers before ICO fined them. The companies often ignored these warnings with one company receiving 19 written warnings. These matters are escalated to ICO which has the power to issue fines and enforcement notices. TPS escalates these matters to the ICO which has the power to issue fines and enforcement notices.

You need to take warnings seriously. You should make the necessary changes to marketing practices before having to face the ICO or another regulatory authority. Taking steps following a warning will help you way to avoid receiving a hefty direct marketing fine.

Lessons to take away

Each organisation that ICO  fined could have taken simple steps to avoid receiving a direct marketing fine. If your organisation uses direct marketing, consider the themes we’ve analysed to help you avoid receiving a similar fine. You should heed any warnings you receive from regulatory authorities, frequently check your marketing databases against opt-out registries and ensure your employees are trained properly on your marketing policies.

Actions to take

  • Implement good policies by asking Michalsons to review or assist you with drafting proper policies.
  • Ensure your employees understand principled direct marketing by asking Michalsons to conduct training and awareness sessions.
  • Learn how to market lawfully by joining the Michalsons programme.
  • Keep an eye on the DMASA and ICO websites to stay up to date with the latest developments.