Greater Manchester company fined by watchdog after sending 400,000 spam texts about debt

Mr Eckersley said:    “I’d encourage anyone bothered by a spam text to report it via the tool on the ICO website or via the 7726 service. These reports inform our investigations and help us take action against firms responsible.”

LAD Media told the ICO that it had purchased the data used to send the text messages from a third party data supplier.  The text messages had then been sent on its behalf by another company.

The law says that organisations buying in lists of people’s details to use for marketing, or contracting another firm to carry out marketing for them, must still ensure they comply with the law. That means making rigorous checks to make sure the personal details have been obtained fairly and lawfully, and that the people have given the necessary consent to receive the text messages.

The rules on electronic mail marketing are that you must not send electronic mail marketing to individuals, unless:

• they have specifically consented to electronic mail from you; or
• they are an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) a similar product or service from you in the past, and you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sent.

You must not disguise or conceal your identity, and you must provide a valid contact address so they can opt out or unsubscribe.