The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined London-based Oracle Insurance Brokers for sending tens of thousands of unsolicited text messages to people across the UK.
The brokerage firm was slapped with a £30,000 fine, the
BBC reported, for sending 136,000 spam text messages inviting people to apply for short-term loans.
On its website, the ICO said Oracle violated the law because it “did not have the consent of the people the text messages were sent to.”
Oracle had denied committing any wrongdoing. According to the
BBC report, the broker told ICO investigators that it was a third-party company which had sent the texts on its behalf, a practice known as affiliate marketing.
However, the ICO said it was the broker’s responsibility to check that the text recipients had specifically given their consent to receive marketing messages.
“Affiliate firms are like postmen, delivering the message,” the
BBC quoted ICO enforcement group manager Andy Curry as saying.
“It’s the people behind the message whose job it is to make sure it complies with the law,” he added.
Apart from Oracle, Dorset-based firm Silver City Tech was also fined £100,000 for sending more than three million spam messages in five months offering easy access to loans.
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