ICO (UK) - EB Associates: Difference between revisions

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The UK DPA fined EB Associates Group Limited approximately €164,500 (GBP 140,000) for making over 107,000 illegal cold calls to individuals about pensions.
The UK DPA (ICO) fined EB Associates Group Limited approximately €164,500 (GBP 140,000) for instigating over 107,000 illegal cold calls to individuals about pensions schemes.


== English Summary ==
== English Summary ==


=== Facts ===
=== Facts ===
-
EB Associates Group Limited (EBAG) is a financial advisors group. The ICO found that it "positively encouraged" its 'introducer appointed representatives' (IARs) to make call for "the purposes of direct marketing in relation to occupational pension schemes or personal pension schemes" by offering between £300 and £750 for each referral made to it after a call.


=== Holding ===
=== Holding ===
-
The ICO first restated that Regulation 21B PECR requires that the entity making such direct marketing calls be an 'authorised person or a person who is the trustee or manager of an occupational pension scheme or a personal pension scheme'. It held that whilst EBAG would meet the criteria to be considered an authorised person, the IARs it instigated to make the calls did not.
 
Further, neither of them had the valid consent of those who were called, or that they had an existing customer relationship with them, as required by Regulation 21B(2)(b) and 21B(3)(b) PECR. Indeed, they obtained the data to make these calls from six competition/offer websites. EBAG could not provide evidence of specific or freely given consent (per Article 4(11) GDPR), as individuals had only agreed to those websites' privacy policies.
 
The ICO found that "between 11 January 2019 and 30 September 2019, EBAG instigated the use of a public electronic communications service for the purpose of making 107,003 unsolicited calls for the purposes of direct marketing in relation to occupational pension schemes or personal pension schemes contrary to regulation 21B of PECR."
 
Thus, the ICO fined EB Associates Group Limited approximately €164,500 (GBP 140,000).


== Comment ==
== Comment ==
''Share your comments here!''
This is the largest fine to date (02/12/2021) that the ICO imposed on a company for making such calls.<ref>https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2021/12/ico-issues-its-largest-fine-to-tackle-illegal-pension-cold-calls/</ref> The DPA stated that EBAG came to its attention during a wider investigation into organisations making pension cold calls, signalling more such fines are likely to be imposed.


== Further Resources ==
== Further Resources ==

Latest revision as of 09:54, 7 December 2021

ICO (UK) - EB Associates
LogoUK.png
Authority: ICO (UK)
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Relevant Law:
Regulation 21B Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003
Section 40 of the Data Protection Act 1998
Type: Investigation
Outcome: Violation Found
Started:
Decided: 29.11.2021
Published: 01.12.2021
Fine: 140,000 GBP
Parties: EB Associates Group Limited
National Case Number/Name: EB Associates
European Case Law Identifier: n/a
Appeal: Unknown
Original Language(s): English
Original Source: ICO (in EN)
Initial Contributor: Frederick Antonovics

The UK DPA (ICO) fined EB Associates Group Limited approximately €164,500 (GBP 140,000) for instigating over 107,000 illegal cold calls to individuals about pensions schemes.

English Summary

Facts

EB Associates Group Limited (EBAG) is a financial advisors group. The ICO found that it "positively encouraged" its 'introducer appointed representatives' (IARs) to make call for "the purposes of direct marketing in relation to occupational pension schemes or personal pension schemes" by offering between £300 and £750 for each referral made to it after a call.

Holding

The ICO first restated that Regulation 21B PECR requires that the entity making such direct marketing calls be an 'authorised person or a person who is the trustee or manager of an occupational pension scheme or a personal pension scheme'. It held that whilst EBAG would meet the criteria to be considered an authorised person, the IARs it instigated to make the calls did not.

Further, neither of them had the valid consent of those who were called, or that they had an existing customer relationship with them, as required by Regulation 21B(2)(b) and 21B(3)(b) PECR. Indeed, they obtained the data to make these calls from six competition/offer websites. EBAG could not provide evidence of specific or freely given consent (per Article 4(11) GDPR), as individuals had only agreed to those websites' privacy policies.

The ICO found that "between 11 January 2019 and 30 September 2019, EBAG instigated the use of a public electronic communications service for the purpose of making 107,003 unsolicited calls for the purposes of direct marketing in relation to occupational pension schemes or personal pension schemes contrary to regulation 21B of PECR."

Thus, the ICO fined EB Associates Group Limited approximately €164,500 (GBP 140,000).

Comment

This is the largest fine to date (02/12/2021) that the ICO imposed on a company for making such calls.[1] The DPA stated that EBAG came to its attention during a wider investigation into organisations making pension cold calls, signalling more such fines are likely to be imposed.

Further Resources

Share blogs or news articles here!

English Machine Translation of the Decision

The decision below is a machine translation of the English original. Please refer to the English original for more details.


        

    
        
            
    
        
                
                        Action we've taken/
                
                
                        Enforcement/
                
                
                        
                            EB Associates MPN
                        
                
        
    
                EB Associates
            
        
    
        
        
            
                        Date
                            01 December 2021
                        Type
                            Monetary penalties
                        Sector
                            Marketing
            
        
    

    
        
            

        

                
            Between 11 January 2019 and 30 September 2019 there were 107,003 unsolicited direct marketing calls made to subscribers in relation to occupational pension schemes or personal pension schemes, with those calls being instigated by EB Associates Group Limited when it did not hold valid consent.

        

        Further Reading
            
                
                    
                        EB Associates monetary penalty notice
                            
                                    Action we've taken
                                    PDF (347.68K)
                            
                        
                    
                
                
                    
                        EB Associates enforcement notice
                            
                                    Action we've taken
                            
                        
                    
                
                
                    
                        ICO issues its largest fine to tackle illegal pension cold calls
                            
                                    About the ICO
                            
                        
                    
                
        

        
    

    
    
        
            
    
        
                
                        Action we've taken/
                
                
                        Enforcement/
                
                
                        
                            EB Associates MPN
                        
                
        
    
                EB Associates
            
        
    
        
        
            
                        Date
                            01 December 2021
                        Type
                            Monetary penalties
                        Sector
                            Marketing
            
        
    

    
        
            

        

                
            Between 11 January 2019 and 30 September 2019 there were 107,003 unsolicited direct marketing calls made to subscribers in relation to occupational pension schemes or personal pension schemes, with those calls being instigated by EB Associates Group Limited when it did not hold valid consent.

        

        Further Reading
            
                
                    
                        EB Associates monetary penalty notice
                            
                                    Action we've taken
                                    PDF (347.68K)
                            
                        
                    
                
                
                    
                        EB Associates enforcement notice
                            
                                    Action we've taken
                            
                        
                    
                
                
                    
                        ICO issues its largest fine to tackle illegal pension cold calls
                            
                                    About the ICO
                            
                        
                    
                
        

        
    
EnglishCymraegEnglishCymraeg