MSE News: Bosses of nuisance call companies to face fines of up to £500k

Legacy_user

Directors of companies that continue to plague people with nuisance calls will be slapped with fines of up to £500,000...

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'Bosses of nuisance call companies to face fines of up to £500k'

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Castle

According to the Government's statement: "if they are found to be in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations".

So will this also include spam emails and texts as well?

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-clamps-down-on-nuisance-call-crooks

Stevie_Palimo

This part on the ICO website just stupid :-

We are inundated with complaints from people who are left shaken and distressed by the intrusion on their daily lives.

Ludicrous and this will only affect non regulated Companies of which will move there calling facilities offshore again and not resolve the issue in full as the ICO has no power against a Company offshore.

Also the main problem here is that the ICO and TPS may receive high volumes of complaints about any form of marketing from individuals but most of these people that complain fail to go through to the Company first and get the details that show they gave full permission to receive this, They just scream blue murder and make a complaint first, I have said this before that we all give permission to receive marketing through many different channels and means at present and this can be from a loyalty store card to utility providers and the worst ones are shopping online whereby nobody reads the terms and conditions.

If a Company is marketing to people without this permission then it is fair enough that they should be punished but seriously the Government and the departments in place just think that large fines will solve this problem need to look at the bigger picture.

Ian011

There is an absurd notion that people can somehow consent to being called by companies they have never heard of. In this case, how can they have given that company explicit consent to call them? The 'consent to unsolicited phone calls' nonsense comes from the UK's interpretation of an EU Directive.

There have been numerous tweaks to the existing nuisance calls regime over the last decade or more but the problem is getting worse. None of the changes have worked and recent proposals and changes are also unlikely to have any impact.

More than 90% of the penalties issued by ICO remain unpaid.

Business sectors where nuisance phone calls are a big problem have a regulator that covers that specific sector. In several cases the regulator has stipulated that businesses are not allowed to pound the streets and bang on doors in the hope of drumming up business as this causes too much annoyance. Those regulations could be easily extended to stipulate that cold-calling people by telephone is no longer permitted.

Stevie_Palimo

Ian011 wrote: »

There is an absurd notion that people can somehow consent to being called by companies they have never heard of. In this case, how can they have given that company explicit consent to call them? The 'consent to unsolicited phone calls' nonsense comes from the UK's interpretation of an EU Directive.

There have been numerous tweaks to the existing nuisance calls regime over the last decade or more but the problem is getting worse. None of the changes have worked and recent proposals and changes are also unlikely to have any impact.

More than 90% of the penalties issued by ICO remain unpaid.

Business sectors where nuisance phone calls are a big problem have a regulator that covers that specific sector. In several cases the regulator has stipulated that businesses are not allowed to pound the streets and bang on doors in the hope of drumming up business as this causes too much annoyance. Those regulations could be easily extended to stipulate that cold-calling people by telephone is no longer permitted.

That is why you should read terms and conditions as I have said you pretty much sign up offering your information away to every single thing these days, This is where permission has been granted and the Companies involved will either market there own future products to you or sell the details on and make additional income from it, There is only one sure fire way to cease all marketing from ever being received and that is throw away all items that receive any form of electronic communication and go and live in a remote tree house.

Marketing will never stop and the issue here is unauthorised usage of peoples information and this should be stamped out but as for legit supplies and permission granted to receive such stuff it is here to stay and will never stop due to the commercials involved from the owner of the details, the marketing Company that generates the potential clients and the end user Company that is seeking new clients.

Ian011

The issue of the tens of millions of calls being made in order to find the few dozen people who may be genuinely interested in the products or services being offered. The telephone is quite simply not a suitable medium for this activity to take place.

Stevie_Palimo

Ian011 wrote: »

The issue of the tens of millions of calls being made in order to find the few dozen people who may be genuinely interested in the products or services being offered. The telephone is quite simply not a suitable medium for this activity to take place.

A slight exaggeration on the numbers Ian and the telephone is the best medium for this and more so with social media as marketing will become geared up towards suitable products aimed at the person in question, This is here to stay and no matter how much people dislike it telephone marketing will not stop.

I_luv_cats

There should be clear OPT IN or OPT OUT on any online forms / websites and

CLEAR MANDATORY MARKETING OPT IN requirements on others, like with competitions.



Often the tick boxes are hidden and not clear as should be.

Annoying some have OPT IN / OPT OUT alternatives on the same form / website.

Castle

The ICO is quite clear when it comes to marketing telephone calls to TPS numbers:-

"You must not make marketing calls to any number listed on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or Corporate TPS (CTPS), unless that person has specifically consented to your calls". https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-pecr/electronic-and-telephone-marketing/telephone-marketing/

So any "opt in" statement must include the names of the companies who might call you.

Caddyman

Well to be honest, I haven't been at all bothered about nusiance calls for quite some time, ever since I employed the simple strategy of:

1. Never, ever answer calls from numbers you don't recognise, just let it ring. As a general rule, if it stops after 5 rings, it's a marketing call and they hardly ever leave a voice message.

2. Let the phone ring, don't answer it, wait to see if a message is left. If a message is left, then you know whether or not it's worth responding to. If any message is left purporting to be from your bank or building society, contact your own branch yourself, never from a message left on the phone as it could easily be a scammer. Same if it is someone claiming to be the police or from any Government department, never call them back on a number left in a message, go through official channels.

3. Every call I ever receive that shows London, England, I know is a marketing call and I never answer it. Funny thing, messages are never left.

4. Any number that shows up that you don't recognise, simply Google it and then look it up on whocallsme.com. Chances are, you'll find thousands of complaints about the number calling you.

5. Every rubbish number that ever calls my phone, I automatically block it.

6. Never answer calls from blocked numbers. If it's someone important, they'll leave a message or they'll use a phone that shows caller ID. Worst people for calling using blocked numbers, are the police and Government departments. If they want to speak to you that badly, they'll find another way or they will leave a message, but respond carefully as in the method in point 2.

My method won't suit everyone, but it works just fine for me. I don't have this burning desire to answer every call that appears on my phone, nor am I 'frightened' or 'worried' that it might be something important. Friends and family always know how to get hold of me.

teddysmum

Poor Microsoft with all those Asian employees , called Alan and John, making nuisance calls on their behalf.:D

(Joke. I know they are conmen trying to access people's computers.)