14 DAY TRIAL // The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a monetary penalty of £90,000 ($136,000 / 105,000 EUR) to Glasgow-based DM Design after receiving almost 2,000 complaints from unhappy consumers who had got unwanted marketing calls.
According to the ICO, the company consistently failed to check if the individuals they were calling had opted out of receiving marketing calls. In addition, DM Design responded only to a small number of the total complaints it had received.
Furthermore, on one occasion, an employee threatened to continue calling at more inconvenient times when asked to remove a complainant’s details from the company’s systems.
The ICO reports that this is the first fine handed out for a violation of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) relating to marketing calls.
Two additional companies have been warned about monetary penalties. Ten other organizations are being investigated for spam text messages and unwanted calls.