January 23, 2017

The ICO says that it has already issued more than £1m in fines since last April to firms breaking the rules around marketing calls, texts and emails.

Further, it says, there is another £2 million of fines in the pipeline. In addition, the upcoming change in the law will also allow it to fine not only nuisance call companies but also the directors behind them. With the transfer of the Telephone Preference Service to the ICO as well, the ICO says that it has more tools than ever to tackle the frustration and upset that unlawful cold calls can cause.

More than 140,000 concerns about nuisance marketing were reported to the ICO last year, which is about 370 a day. Reports from the public are vital to the ICO’s enforcement action, it says, as they feed into its investigations and allow it to take action against unscrupulous cold call criminals.

To stop nuisance calls, the ICO advises people to:

• tell the caller you don’t want to receive marketing calls from them; if the organisation continues to call, report it to the ICO;
• register for free with the TPS, which is a list of people who have opted out of receiving live marketing calls. If people register with the TPS and continue to receive nuisance live marketing calls 28 days after registering, they can complain either directly to the TPS or report their concerns to the ICO; and
• report concerns to the ICO using its online reporting tool at org.uk/calls.

The ICO thanks all those who reported nuisance calls last year. To read the ICO blog post in full, click here.