According to a press release from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the ICO has taken enforcement action against Ivor Cox, trading as Orion Forklift and Plant, following breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). The action comes after more than 1700 complaints about were received by the Fax Preference Service (FPS). After considering the complaints made to the FPS and other complaints made to the ICO, the Information Commissioner has served an Enforcement Notice.
Some of the complaints were from individuals or organizations that were registered with the FPS. Individuals and organizations received unsolicited marketing faxes from Orion Forklift and Plant (Orion), marketing the company and its services. Under the Regulations, Orion cannot send direct marketing faxes to either individual subscribers who have not given prior consent, or to corporate subscribers who have previously notified the company that they do not wish to receive direct marketing on a particular line, or any subscriber that has registered their fax number with the FPS.
Mick Gorrill, Assistant Commissioner at the ICO, said: “Unsolicited marketing faxes can be just as irritating as unwanted marketing phone calls. In some cases Orion continued to send the faxes despite being repeatedly asked not to do so by the complainants. Some faxes were also sent to residential addresses in the early hours of the morning, disturbing the recipients and their families. This practice is unacceptable. The ICO takes all breaches of PECR very seriously and we will not hesitate to take further action if it fails to comply with the Enforcement Notice.”
Orion is now required to stop any unsolicited communications for direct marketing purposes within 35 days of the Enforcement Notice. This applies to people who have not provided their consent, have previously asked not to be called or are registered with the FPS.
Failure to meet the terms of the Enforcement Notice would be a criminal offence and may lead to prosecution.