Firm fined £60k over ‘loan texts’
A COMPUTER software development company allowed its lines to be used to send spam texts promoting payday loans to more than 270,000 people.
More than a quarter of a million messages were sent in a threemonth period, November 2016 and January 2017, after STS Commercial Ltd, in Bridgend, allowed its lines to be used.
An investigation was launched by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after a network provider found unsolicited marketing activity in the Bridgend area, reaching 274,423 people in total.
The network later reported receiving 268 complaints through its spam reporting system during a period of three months.
The Information Commissioner has now hit the firm with a £60,000 fine after an investigation revealed STS relied on the consent of a third party but did not carry out sufficient due diligence checks to ensure the data complied with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
Neither STS, based in Dunraven Place, or the third party, could provide evidence of this.
Aggravating features in the case included a lack of due diligence which could have prevented the contraventions, the opaque nature of the company and its lack of transparency with the ICO, and the fact STS continued to use unregistered sim cards to send unlawful marketing messages after the network provider had cancelled its contract.
Speaking about the case, ICO head of enforcement Steve Eckersley said: “Companies that send spam texts to people without their consent are flouting the law and I hope the fine acts as a stark warning. Having previously been given the opportunity to clean up its act, STS continued to engage in this activity and have been penalised.”
The company has until August 8 to the pay the fine to the ICO. If they pay before this date the amount will be reduced by 20% to £48,000.
A statement provided by STS Commercial Ltd said: “On July 4 the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a monetary penalty of £60,000 against STS Commercial Ltd.
“The company has until the August 4, 2018, to appeal this decision, which it shall be doing.
“We have fully cooperated with the ICO in their investigations but were not given identifying details of the alleged 268 complainants, in respect of which the decision is founded upon, such as phone numbers and message content, to enable us to properly investigate.
“Without such details about the complaints it was not possible to investigate their validity. When we asked the ICO for this critical information they were unable to provide it. In an email with a representative of the ICO they stated: ‘Whilst the commissioner considered using her powers to extract the necessary information from Vodafone she concluded that to do so would be disproportionate in terms of the time and available resources’.
“STS Commercial Ltd operate within the law, do not accept the ICO’s findings of fact in their investigation, and do not accept any wrongdoing.
“We will be appealing within the 28-day deadline and ask that our reputation remain untarnished until the conclusion of the appeal.”