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Keep your PECR up (I know, I’m sorry)
The BBC reports that Bournemouth and Poole NHS PCT have got themselves into hot water by calling a member of the public using an external company in order to offer him some health screening as he was...
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Mother! Eat the Cookie! Eat It!
My favourite part of the Information Commissioner’s website is the blog, where a succession of ICO notables talk about how marvellous their particular corner of the business is. The enterprise appears...
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And now, a message from our sponsors
Last weekend, the media was full of stories featuring Richard Herman, who has come up with the remarkable wheeze of suing a company who made cold calls to him, charging them £10 a minute if they call....
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Insert knob gag here
Last night, I received a charming email message from Theresa May, revelling in all the foreigners she has kept out of the country before asking me for money. I’m paraphrasing slightly. I regret that...
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Think of a number
On Friday, DataGuidance (“the global data protection and privacy compliance solution”) published research headlined ‘Total fines imposed on private sector outstrip public sector‘. They also claimed...
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A very long engagement
Tim Kelsey’s appearance on the Today programme was not illuminating. No compromise, no acknowledgement that the process has been badly handled, and the plan to slip leaflets about the process in with...
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Call the Cops
In June 2013, the Swansea-based company CPR Global proudly announced that their nuisance-call-busting Call Blocker had received a significant accolade – the device was now endorsed by the Association...
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It’s only words
The word ‘fine’ is easier and quicker to say than the phrase ‘civil monetary penalty’. Even if you truncate it to ‘CMP’, problems still arise when you get to verbs. ‘Fined’ is OK, but ‘CMPeed’ sounds...
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VOTE FOR SPAM
In what is probably a precursor to a busy period of anxious politicos making a mess of marketing law, the Conservative MP for Gloucester Richard Graham has fallen foul of both Data Protection and the...
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What’s the damage?
BTO Solicitors recently marked the publication of the Information Commissioner’s annual report with a blog by two of their advocate solicitors about the Commissioner’s recent enforcement activity. BTO...
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Otherwise responsible
Last week, the Information Commissioner issued a civil monetary penalty on Direct Assist Limited, a TPS-busting personal injury firm. As Direct Assist has been wound up by HMRC, all this means is that...
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Whoops!
Yesterday, after at least a year of pondering it, the Information Commissioner asked the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) to sign an undertaking, agreeing to change the way in which...
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Liberal Spamocrats
The Varsity newspaper reports a scandal in academia, as Julian Huppert stands accused of spamming Cambridge’s students with crass emails about revenge porn. As well as reflecting the understandable...
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A very bad call
A few weeks ago, I heard someone on the radio talking about why American bankers are prosecuted and imprisoned (sometimes), whereas British bankers almost invariably are not. The commentator said that...
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Charity letters
I have written a lot recently about the issue of charities and marketing, and especially as I have another post on the boil concerning the same issues, I had intended to keep my head down for a few...
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Culture, Media and Spam
Most of the news and comment I heard about the Queen’s Speech suggested that it was a hole in the air, with the Government wanting to avoid doing anything of any consequence before the resolution of...
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Less than ideal
Last week, Stephen Lee, an academic and former fundraiser was reported as having attacked the Information Commissioner’s Office for their interpretation of direct marketing at a fundraising conference....
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Brand new key
Parents at schools in Suffolk recently received an interesting piece of correspondence about an exciting initiative called ‘Suffolk SAFEKey‘, offered by Suffolk Police. For as little as £1 a month,...
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Caesar’s Wife
In May 2016, the Labour member for Heatons North, Alex Ganotis, became Leader of Stockport Council, having been a councillor for some years. A month or so later, I read a story mentioning him in the...
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Small change
Some senior figures in the charity sector have sought to deal with the Information Commissioner’s recent enforcement against the RSPCA and the British Heart Foundation by suggesting that the ICO’s...
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