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ACT Response Ltd fined £140,000 by the ICO

 Article added: 30/10/2018

Cleveland based ACT Response Ltd have been fined £140,000 by the ICO for calling data taken from a telephone directory and failing to screen it against the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) register beforehand.

The Information Commissioner (ICO) received a high number of complaints about the company, although the exact number wasn’t specified.

The ICO launched an investigation in February 2018 and just over 8 months later they received a fine of £140,000.

The calls were actually made by ACT Response Ltd’s sister company, ACT EXCEL Ltd.

The company knowingly called numbers that might be registered on the TPS as evidenced by their scripts:

“Good Morning / Afternoon Mr / Mrs…. My name is …….I’m calling from ACT Excel the home security people.

Can I ask if you are registered on the Telephone Preference Service?

If yes, inform them your call is about home security and ask is it ok for you to continue with the call, if not apologise and tell them they will be added to our suppression list….”

ACT Response Ltd - ICO Enforcement Notice

ACT Response Ltd instigated 609,797 calls during a 13 month period commencing January 2017 of which a massive 496,455 were registered on the TPS.

When a consumer registered with the TPS makes a complaint about receiving a call, the TPS will write to you and ask you to explain why you called them. Once you’ve seen one or two of these letters you can recognise the standard looking nature of them, but that doesn’t negate the need to respond to them. In the case of ACT Response Ltd they responded to most of these letters by saying the calls were made as a result of “human error”

act excel made calls on behalf of act response ltd
ACT Excel Ltd made calls for ACT Response Ltd

Other companies linked to ACT Response Ltd

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.
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