Everything DM Ltd fined £60,000 by ICO
Article added: 04/09/2018
Everything DM Ltd
Long established Marketingfile Ltd (now Everything DM Ltd) has been fined £60,000 by the ICO for breaches of the Privacy Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
It’s the Privacy Electronic Communications Regulations which govern Telephone Preference Service (TPS) screening.
Everything DM Ltd first came to the attention of the ICO as a result of an investigation conducted by Which? Magazine into early pension release schemes. Which? Ran two articles on early pension release entitled “How to spot a pension scam” and “60 second guide to pension unlocking scams”. During their investigation Which? established that Everything DM Ltd were one of the data brokers supplying data to companies providing early pension release solutions.
Which? then passed their findings over to the ICO for further investigation which led to the subsequent £60,000 fine.
Everything DM Ltd offer solutions such as:
- www.numbercheck.co.uk – a basic online TPS screening solution
- www.marketingfile.com – a marketing website offering data and data related services
- www.touchpoint.marketing – a branded solution offered by Everything DM Ltd (previously Marketingfile Ltd) offering an online interface to send marketing material such as emails and SMS messages to millions of consumers
- www.everythingdm.com – the newer rebranded version of the Marketingfile website.
View the Company Financials
Offering a solution called Touchpoint, which allowed users to organise marketing campaigns online using data collected, purchased, amalgamated and managed by the company.
Touchpoint allowed users to send millions of emails and SMS messages, but the lack of consent meant that these messages were illegal.
Marketingfile aka Everything DM Monetary Penalty Notice
Touchpoint boasted to its users that it could send messages and that there would be no trace of the Touchpoint brand or the brand of Marketingfile / Everything DM Ltd. This meant that the to the consumers receiving the emails and text messages they would look like they originated from the companies sending the messages themselves.
Having shown that the Touchpoint system is operating illegally and in breach of Data Protection laws, one has to wonder what the future of the business is likely to be as it appears to be the business’ main offering to clients. With so much effort having gone into Touchpoint, it’s surely now nothing more than a giant digital doorstop!
View the Company Financials
Other news reports on Marketingfile Ltd’s fine:
ICO director of investigations Steve Eckersley, said:
“Firms providing marketing services to other organisations need to double-check whether they have valid consent from people to send marketing emails to them.”
He added that “generic third party consent is not enough and that companies that don’t verify their position will discover they are breaking the law.”
TPS Services Richard Kane said:
“I’m sure Marketingfile feel the same way as many other businesses who thought what they were doing was above board and legal only to find the ICO determining differently!
Collecting data from many different sources and piling it into the Touchpoint solution as an offering to its clients to use is a fairly common practice amongst companies who either sell data or sell access to their data as in the case of Marketingfile.”
Companies associated with Everything DM Ltd
Addresses associated with Everything DM Ltd
- Marketingfile Ltd, 8 Arlington Court, Whittle Way, Arlington Business Park, Stevenage, SG1 2FS
- Marketingfile Ltd, Mha Macintyre Hudson, Equipoise House, Grove Place, Bedford, MK40 3LE
If your business purchases or sells data then you should read the latest
Direct Marketing Guidance issued by the ICO for a complete explanation of what the ICO expects from companies involved in or buying from the direct marketing industry.