Author: Charlie McKelvey

Reactiv Media, the telemarketing company which was booted out of the UK DMA just three months ago, has found itself in more trouble after being clobbered with a £50,000 fine for calling people on the Telephone Preference Service.
Set up in June 2007 by Tony Abbott (pictured) the firm boasts: “We’re one of the largest data owners in the UK, providing the cleanest, freshest, most up to date records available.”
And, in Elland, West Yorkshire, Abbott is viewed as something of a local hero, regularly appearing in the regional press and dishing out business advice.

However, the Information Commissioner’s Office found that between November 2012 and December 2013 the TPS received 481 complaints from individuals who had received unsolicited calls from Reactiv Media despite registering with the TPS. The ICO also received 120 complaints. In May, the company was warned it faced a fine of up to £140,000.
ICO director of operations Simon Entwisle said: “The system is simple. People on the TPS register shouldn’t receive nuisance calls – full stop. Reactiv Media ignored this rule and they must now pay a £50,000 penalty.
“Nuisance calls and texts are a scourge for thousands of individuals and households across the UK. We will continue to target the companies responsible. To help us do this we are currently speaking with the government to get the legal bar lowered allowing us to enforce against more companies and send a stronger message.”

The charge-sheet for the company dates back as far as April 2012, when the Direct Marketing Commission ruled it had breached the Direct Marketing Code of Practice over nuisance calls and emails, although it agreed to change its practices.
But just months later it was in the dock again, following a raft of complaints about unsolicited calls offering PPI compensation between April and September 2013.
Despite a fresh warning from DMC, Reativ failed to respond to requests to review and change their processes and continued to generate complaints about their activities.
Its DMA membership was axed in April. At the time, DMC chief commissioner George Kidd said: “Other telemarketing companies have worked with us and turned past problems around. Those who use companies like Reactiv Media to generate leads share a responsibility. They should not be encouraging firms to bend or break rules that are there to make sure the public’s wishes are respected when it comes to telemarketing.”

This was first published on Decision Marketing. For more breaking news and opinion pieces on direct, data and digital marketing in the UK visit us at www.decisionmarketing.co.uk

Many of the UK’s major brands could be unwittingly using illegal data to fuel their direct marketing campaigns after it was revealed that up to 90 local authorities have been selling on opted-out Electoral Roll information.
The cock-up, which has affected as many as one-in-four councils in England and Wales, has been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office. However, instead of launching its own investigation, the ICO has asked councils that may have been affected by to come forward.
Three councils in Wales – Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen and Caerphilly – and Wokingham Council in Berkshire are the only ones that have so far admitted to the gaffe.
The Daily Mail newspaper has claimed that Reading-based software company Idox is responsible for the mistake, which has seen the details of those who ticked the opt-out box passed on to third-party companies.
Although most companies rarely rely solely on ER data, it is an essential tool for charities and many data firms which supply major brands use the information for verification purposes.
A spokesman for the ICO told the Daily Mail: “The full version of the ER should only be used for elections, preventing and detecting crime and checking applications for credit. Any suggestion that it has been made available for other purposes raises clear data protection concerns.
“We are aware that a number of councils have reported that a software error has resulted in the full ER being made available more widely than it should have been. We are currently making enquiries into these potential data breaches.”
The opt-out box was first introduced just over a decade ago after retired accountant Brian Robertson won a High Court case after objecting to ER’s use for marketing purposes. He successfully claimed that the resultant “junk mail” was an unjustified interference in his private and family life.
Last year, privacy group Big Brother Watch demanded that councils should even be banned from selling the edited ER, after releasing figures which showed more than 300 local authorities sold it to more than 2,700 private companies and individuals. It claimed the sale undermined trust in the electoral
This was first published on Decision Marketing. For more breaking news and opinion pieces on direct, data and digital marketing in the UK visit us at www.decisionmarketing.co.uk