Enforcement action

Cabinet Office

02 December 2021, Monetary penalties, Central government

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined the Cabinet Office £500,000 for disclosing postal addresses of the 2020 New Year Honours recipients online.

EB Associates

01 December 2021, Monetary penalties, Marketing

Between 11 January 2019 and 30 September 2019 there were 107,003 unsolicited direct marketing calls made to subscribers in relation to occupational pension schemes or personal pension schemes, with those calls being instigated by EB Associates Group Limited when it did not hold valid consent.

Unite the Union

25 October 2021, Monetary penalties, Membership association

There were multiple breaches of regulation 21 by Unite the Union arising from the organisation’s activities over a twelve-month period, resulting in 57,665 unsolicited direct marketing calls to subscribers who were registered with the TPS. These 57,665 unsolicited calls led to a total of 27 complaints being made to the Commissioner over the period of contravention.

HIV Scotland

22 October 2021, Monetary penalties, Charitable and voluntary

Scottish charity fined for contraventions of Articles 5(1)(f), 32(1) and 32(2) of the UK GDPR.

Your Home Improvements Ltd

22 September 2021, Monetary penalties, Retail and manufacture

Your Home Improvements Ltd have been fined for making 1,718 unsolicited calls for direct marketing purposes to people who were registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). This resulted in 4 complaints being made to the TPS and the Commissioner.

We Buy Any Car Limited

15 September 2021, Monetary penalties, Retail and manufacture

The ICO has fined We Buy Any Car Limited £200,000. It sent 191.4 million marketing emails and 3.6 million marketing SMS messages to individuals without fully satisfying the requirements of the soft opt in, resulting in 42 complaints to the Commissioner, over a period of twelve months.

Saga Services Limited

15 September 2021, Monetary penalties, Finance insurance and credit

The ICO has fined Saga Services Ltd £150,000 for sending messages containing direct marketing material, for which subscribers had not provided valid consent.

Saga Personal Finance Limited

15 September 2021, Monetary penalties, Finance insurance and credit

The ICO has fined Saga Personal Finance Ltd £75,000 for sending 28,523,745 unsolicited direct marketing messages. These messages contained direct marketing material for which subscribers had not provided valid consent.

SportsDirect.com Retail Ltd

15 September 2021, Monetary penalties, Retail and manufacture

The ICO has fined SportsDirect.com £70,000 for sending a total of 2,565,513 direct marketing messages without consent.

DialADeal Scotland Ltd

05 September 2021, Monetary penalties, Retail and manufacture

The ICO has fined DialADeal Scotland Ltd £150 000 for making unsolicited direct marketing calls to subscribers who were registered with the TPS and who had not provided valid consent.

Parkin Beacher Ltd

19 August 2021, Monetary penalties, Marketing

The ICO has fined Halifax-based company Parkin Beacher Ltd (PBL) £50,000 for making illegal marketing calls to people about their pensions.

Yes Consumer Solutions Ltd

02 August 2021, Monetary penalties, Marketing

Yes Consumer Solutions Ltd have been fined £170,000 for a contravention of Regulation 21 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

Mermaids

08 July 2021, Monetary penalties, Charitable and voluntary

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined transgender charity Mermaids £25,000 for failing to keep the personal data of its users secure.

Brazier Consulting Services Ltd

01 July 2021, Monetary penalties, General business

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Leeds-based Brazier Consulting Services Ltd (BCS) £200,000 for making more than 11 million unlawful claims management calls.

ColourCoat Limited

23 June 2021, Monetary penalties, Land or property services

T here have been multiple breaches of Regulations 21 and 24 of PECR by ColourCoat Limited arising from its activities over an eight month period and this led to a substantial number of unsolicited direct marketing calls being made.

Global One 2015

15 June 2021, Monetary penalties, Charitable and voluntary

Between 24 April 2020 and 23 May 2020 Global One instigated a total of 573,000 unsolicited direct marketing messages, resulting in total of 548 complaints. They have been fined £10,000.

Papa John’s (GB) Limited

15 June 2021, Monetary penalties, Retail and manufacture

Papa John’s (GB) Limited has been fined £10,000 for sending 168,022 nuisance marketing messages to its customers.

Solarwave Limited

08 June 2021, Monetary penalties, Marketing

Solarwave of Grays, Essex, has been fined £100,000 for making 73,217 unsolicited marketing calls about solar panel maintenance between January and October 2020. These were made to people who were registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) list and who should not have received them.

LTH Holdings Limited

08 June 2021, Monetary penalties, Marketing

LTH Holdings, a telephone marketing company from Cardiff, have been fined £145,000 for making 1.4 million calls selling funeral plans to people who were also registered with the TPS for a year between May 2019 to May 2020. The ICO received 41 complaints. The ICO has online reports that LTH adopted aggressive, coercive, and persuasive methods in its direct marketing, which is concerning given the target audience could be vulnerable people.

Colour Car Sales Limited

08 June 2021, Monetary penalties, Transport and leisure

Colour Car Sales Ltd (CCSL) of Stoke-on-Trent, is a credit intermediary for used car finance. They have been fined £170,000 for sending spam text messages directing people to a number of car finance websites.

The Conservative Party

03 June 2021, Monetary penalties, Political

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined the Conservative Party £10,000 for sending 51 marketing emails to people who did not want to receive them.

American Express Services Europe Limited

20 May 2021, Monetary penalties, Finance insurance and credit

Between a 12-month period from 1 June 2018 to 31 May 2019, a confirmed total of 4,098,841 direct marketing messages were sent by, or at the instigation of, of American Express Services Europe Limited. These messages contained direct marketing material for which subscribers had not provided adequate consent.