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ICO strikes again

 Article added: 12/03/2015

Today, the ICO raided a call centre in Hove, Sussex thought to be responsible for making millions of nuisance calls.

It's believed that the business was using automatic dialling technology up to six million recorded telephone calls a day about Debt Management or Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). The calls were made anonymously by withholding the senders ID, were without consent and in such a way as to make it impossible to opt out of receiving them.

Documents and computer equipment were removed from the premises for further examination. The ICO will now consider what action is necessary in order to compel the organisation to comply with the rules regarding recorded telephone calls. This may include issuing a civil monetary penalty and / or an enforcement notice.

David Clancy of the ICO said:

“Our intelligence identified this address as being responsible for making millions of recorded messages. It is astounding to think this one small company had the ability to pester millions of people with unwanted calls on such a huge scale.”
“Thanks to this raid we have seized information that will enable us to discover where this organisation is sourcing its data from and prevent them from selling it to third parties.”
“The rules on making recorded messages are clear, and if the evidence proves the law has been broken we will act.”

The raid was prompted by intelligence supplied by the Ministry of Justice Claims Management Regulation Unit (CMRU) and the ICO’s online TPS reporting tool. It was carried out with the assistance of the CMRU and Trading Standards.

The regulations covering electronic marketing, including marketing calls and texts, are due to change to make it easier for the ICO to take action against rogue companies.

Another premises in Maidenhead thought to host the company’s servers was also raided today.

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