Wednesday, March 20, 2019
More wrong doing by Vote Leave
I am beginning to feel left out. I didn't receive any of the controversial emails, texts or Facebook adverts sent out by Vote Leave. Who told them that I was a Remainer? Am I to believe that they read this blog?
Despite that apparently 196,154 people did receive texts from Vote Leave during the referendum campaign. The only problem is that the recipients didn't give their consent to being contacted in this way.
The Independent reports that official Brexit campaign has now been fined £40,000 by the UK’s privacy watchdog for sending these unsolicited text messages. The campaign group, which was backed by Tory big-hitters Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, was unable to provide evidence to the ICO that the recipients had given their consent to receive the messages – as required by electronic marketing law.
As the paper says, Vote Leave has already been fined and reported to the police by the election watchdogs after it was found to have breached strict spending rules during the campaign. The Electoral Commission slapped a £61,000 fine on the campaign after it uncovered “significant evidence” of joint working between Vote Leave and a youth group known as BeLeave, which meant the campaign had exceeded its spending limit.
As the ICO director of investigations Steve Eckersley says: “Spam texts are a real nuisance for millions of people and we will take action against organisations who disregard the law. Direct marketing is not just about selling products and services, it’s also about promoting an organisation’s aims and ideals. Political campaigns and parties, like any other organisations, have to comply with the law.”
And so say all of us,
Despite that apparently 196,154 people did receive texts from Vote Leave during the referendum campaign. The only problem is that the recipients didn't give their consent to being contacted in this way.
The Independent reports that official Brexit campaign has now been fined £40,000 by the UK’s privacy watchdog for sending these unsolicited text messages. The campaign group, which was backed by Tory big-hitters Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, was unable to provide evidence to the ICO that the recipients had given their consent to receive the messages – as required by electronic marketing law.
As the paper says, Vote Leave has already been fined and reported to the police by the election watchdogs after it was found to have breached strict spending rules during the campaign. The Electoral Commission slapped a £61,000 fine on the campaign after it uncovered “significant evidence” of joint working between Vote Leave and a youth group known as BeLeave, which meant the campaign had exceeded its spending limit.
As the ICO director of investigations Steve Eckersley says: “Spam texts are a real nuisance for millions of people and we will take action against organisations who disregard the law. Direct marketing is not just about selling products and services, it’s also about promoting an organisation’s aims and ideals. Political campaigns and parties, like any other organisations, have to comply with the law.”
And so say all of us,
