The ICO has ordered Penny Appeal to stop sending unsolicited marketing texts to people without their consent, after the charity sent more than 460,000 unsolicited texts over a ten-day period to 52,000 people who had never provided their consent, or who had clearly opted out.
In warning other charities, the ICO’s advice includes:
- Only email or text someone if they have specifically consented to receiving emails or texts – for example, by ticking an opt-in box.
- People cannot provide consent as a condition of subscribing to a service – consent must be freely given and fully informed.
- Offer an opt-out option (by reply or unsubscribe link) and act on this promptly.
- Keep a clear ‘do not contact’ list of anyone who opts out or unsubscribes from your communications, and screen against this list every time you send an email or text.
You can read more using the link https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2024/03/ico-warns-charities-about-direct-marketing-rules-as-it-orders-penny-appeal-to-stop-sending-spam-texts/.
It was suggested that part of the cause was the switching to a new IT system, and this may be a warning to us all when we implement new systems?