On 10th April 2023, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fined Join The Triboo Limited £130,000 for sending 107 million spam emails targeting jobseekers. The an online recruitment firm was found to have breached the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) by sending unsolicited emails to individuals without their consent.
The PECR is a set of regulations, which amongst other things, govern the use of electronic communications (e.g. email, text message, and automated calling systems) for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, the regulations require that individuals must give their consent before receiving marketing messages, including job vacancies. When it comes to e mails, businesses cannot send unsolicited emails to individuals unless they have obtained their explicit consent to do so.
The UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which also applies to electronic communications involving personal data, defines consent as “any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.”
This means that businesses must provide individuals with clear and concise information about what data they are collecting, how they will use it, and who they will share it with. Individuals must then be given the option to give their consent, and this consent must be freely given and specific to the intended processing activity. Businesses must also provide individuals with the option to withdraw their consent at any time.
Join the Triboo Limited was found to have breached PECR by sending unsolicited emails to individuals without their consent. The emails were sent in bulk to individuals who had not signed up to receive job alerts from the firm, and the content of the emails did not provide individuals with clear and concise information about the firm’s processing activities.
Andy Curry, ICO Head of Investigations, said:
“It’s an issue many of us face – opening up our email inboxes and it being filled with emails we did not ask for or consent to. This shouldn’t just be considered a fact of life – it is against the law.
We provide advice and support to legitimate companies that want to comply with the law. Last year, we released updated direct marketing guidance to help those very businesses.
That is, however, not what was happening in this case. This company did not properly seek permission from the people it chose to bombard with spam emails. The company used job seeking websites as a key component in its unlawful campaign.
In taking this action, we say to the public that we will continue to be on your side and protect you, and we say to any other organisation operating outside of the law that we will pursue every case like this brought to us to the fullest extent.”
The ICO’s decision to fine this online recruitment firm serves as a reminder of the importance of complying with data protection laws. This will enable businesses to build trust with their customers and create a safer, more secure online environment for everyone.
Our forthcoming PECR and Marketing workshop will consider this and other developments in detail.
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