2023-08-13 13:00:50
A month and a half after unwanted commercial calls -known as “spam”- were prohibited by law, “these have not stopped” and, as the OCU (Organization of Consumers and Users) has assured EFE, compliance of the regulations today “is deficient”. Meanwhile, some of the companies consulted by Efe, such as Telefónica or Vodafone, deny that they are making calls without the proper consent of the recipient and defend that they are complying with the law. For its part, Orange, the second operator in the country, has not ruled on the matter. As estimated by the OCU before this ban came into force, almost half of the random and indiscriminate calls came from telephone operators.
Since June 30, companies can be penalized for these so-called ‘spam’ under the General Telecommunications Law, which was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on June 29, 2022, and which contemplated an article that included this prohibition. The regulations established a period of one year for the entry into force of the right of end users not to receive unwanted calls for communication purposes. Thus, if the company makes a ‘spam’ call without consent, the Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) may penalize it.
The AEPD has not provided data on complaints relating to non-compliance with the regulations and has referred to the information it published in this regard before the law came into force. The OCU has not issued a specific report on user complaints either, taking into account that the regulations have been in force for less than two months, although the information that law enforcement is receiving is deficient, they have explained.
According to OCU sources, some companies are taking advantage of the exceptions established by law to make these calls, but interpreting them in a broad sense. Specifically, the law establishes that users will have the right “not to receive unwanted calls for commercial communication purposes, unless there is prior consent to receive this type of commercial communication” or “unless the communication can be based on another legitimizing basis of those provided for in article 6.1 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the processing of personal data”.
This exception, for example, would apply in cases where the call was necessary to protect vital interests, or to fulfill a mission carried out in the public interest, among others. Before the law came into force, the OCU already warned that in practice it was impossible to identify which company is behind two out of every three commercial calls, and only in one out of ten was clear information obtained to be able to cancel the registered information and the withdrawal request.
Almost half of the ‘spam’ calls came from telecommunications companies. Telefónica, the main Spanish telecommunications operator, has assured Efe that since 1004 “no calls are made that do not have the due consent of the client” and that they have trained their extensive commercial network precisely not to make these types of calls. In any case, it has been recalled that if a user detects any practice to the contrary, the operation contemplates that the source be contacted so that the practice ceases immediately. “We carry out regular monitoring and according to the information available, compliance is practically complete”, they have pointed out.
For its part, Vodafone, the third operator in Spain, has also reported that it has “completely” adapted to the new obligations of the law, as well as the requirements established by the data protection agency for commercial calls. In this sense, Vodafone sources have asserted that “commercial calls are not made to users who have not given their consent or who do not have another basis of legitimacy.” In addition, they have abounded that new arguments have been established in the calls as mandated by the AEPD, identifying both Vodafone and the agency calling on its behalf, indicating that it is a commercial call and informing about the data protection rights with which account user.
#antispam #law #intrusive #calls