September 2003
Tick this box if you think you know about the Law regarding Direct Marketing
From 11 December 2003, the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 will come into force. As a result, customers will need to give their explicit consent to allow businesses to contact them for direct marketing by telephone, email and fax. Explicit consent will be needed in all instances except where the marketing relates to a similar product or service to that where the details were originally obtained.
The Regulations 2003 will also require businesses to remove all records containing contact details when the details are no longer required according to the reason for which the details were received in the first place. Businesses will also need to keep registers of all the records that will be used for direct marketing.
Briffa Comment:
The legislation has the aim of safeguarding the privacy of members of the public who do not wish to receive unsolicited marketing material, while allowing those who are interested in new offers to receive such information. Although safeguards do presently exist, some instances require only negative consent to prevent direct marketing, i.e. boxes that state tick here if you do not want to be contacted. From the implementation of the Regulations, the default position will be that unsolicited emails will not be sent. Most businesses that operate on-line and engage in direct marketing will now have to change the opt-in and opt-out clauses for direct marketing.