The Guarantor requires managers and call center to terminate the unlawful conduct
By September 10 must be taken to respect users. It could block data for advertising
Stop unwanted phone calls that come at any time in the homes of Italian citizens to promote products and services.
With five measures, about some of the major telephone companies and companies that operate as call center managers on their behalf and other major companies, the Guarantor (Francesco Pizzetti, Giuseppe Chiaravalloti, Mauro Paissan, Giuseppe Fortunato) has prescribed a series of measures to ensure an obligation of confidentiality and other rights of users.
telephone companies and call centers should discontinue the unlawful processing of data by informing the Authority already by July 5 on the compliance of the required measures, organizational, technical and procedural, that will still be adopted no later than the September 10, 2007. The Guarantor has
reserved the right to take more drastic in the case of non-compliance, which blocks or bans.
In particular, managers and call center will:
- stop the misuse of telephone numbers is collected and used for commercial purposes without the required consent of the parties;
- regularize databases informing people and getting them to the specific consent to the data for advertising purposes;
- inform users with the utmost transparency even at the time of contact on the source of the data and their use;
- record the user will no longer be disturbed;
- stop illicit use data to trigger unwanted services (secretarial, fast internet connection);
- checks on those responsible for the different treatments carried out at call center.
The measures were taken to the outcome of an intensive inspection activity carried out in recent months throughout Italy in respect of the major telephone companies and call center, launched on the basis of numerous reports came from the citizens. The inspections of the offices of the Guarantor, in collaboration with the Special Unit of the Guardia Civil and privacy of finance, pointed out unlawful processing of personal data and patterns of behavior towards users, despite the calls of the Guarantor and the specific measure adopted last year by the general right to address the problem of unsolicited calls made for promotional purposes or to sell products and services directly, the so-called "telesales" .
should be noted, finally, that for violations relating to failure or insufficient information to users, in 2007 the Ombudsman has so far launched to providers of electronic communications services and call center 44 administrative enforcement, 22 of which are already defined with the payment of amounts to a total of over 130 000 €.
