Definition
Prohibits the use of automated calling and communication systems for unsolicited promotional purposes, except with the prior consent of the data subject or for legitimate interest of the data controller.
Excerpt
Without prejudice to the provisions of articles 8 and 21 of legislative decree 9 April 2003, n. 70, the use of automated call or call communication systems without the intervention of an operator for sending advertising or direct sales material or for carrying out market research or commercial communication is permitted with consent of the contractor or user. In any case, the provisions of article 1, paragraph 14, of the law of 11 January 2018, n. 5.
The provision referred to in paragraph 1 also applies to electronic communications, carried out for the purposes indicated therein, by email, fax, messages of the Mms (Multimedia Messaging Service) or SMS (Short Message Service) or other types.
Except for the cases referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, further communications for the purposes referred to in the same paragraphs made by means other than those indicated therein, are permitted pursuant to articles 6 and 7 of the Regulation as well as pursuant to the provisions of the paragraph 3-bis. 3-bis. Notwithstanding the provisions of article 129 , the processing of data referred to in paragraph 1 of the aforementioned article, through the use of the telephone and paper mail for the purpose of sending advertising material or direct sales or for carrying out market research or commercial communication, is allowed for those who have not exercised the right to object, with simplified procedures and also electronically, by entering the number of which he is the holder and the other personal data referred to in paragraph 1 of the aforementioned article, in a public register of oppositions. 3-ter. The register referred to in paragraph 3-bis is established by decree of the President of the Republic to be adopted pursuant to article 17, paragraph 2, of the law of 23 August 1988, n. 400, following a resolution by the Council of Ministers, having acquired the opinion of the Council of State and of the competent parliamentary commissions on the matter, which pronounce themselves within thirty days of the request, as well as, for the related profiles of competence, the opinion of the Authority for guarantees in communications, which is expressed within the same term, according to the following criteria and general principles: a) attribution of the establishment and management of the register to a public entity or body with competences related to the matter; b) provision that the entity or body in charge of setting up and managing the register provides for it with the human and instrumental resources at its disposal or entrusting the creation and management to third parties, who fully assume the financial and organisational costs, through a service contract, in compliance with the code of public contracts referred to in legislative decree 18 April 2016, n. 50. Persons who make use of the register to make communications pay access tariffs based on actual operating and maintenance costs. The Minister of Economic Development, with his own provision, determines these tariffs; c) provision that the technical methods of operation of the register allow each user to request that the numbering of which he is the holder be entered according to simplified methods and also by telematics or telephone; d) provision of technical methods of operation and access to the register through selective queries that do not allow the transfer of data present in the register itself, providing for the tracing of the operations performed and the conservation of data relating to accesses; e) regulation of the timing and methods of registration in the register, without distinction of sector of activity or product category, and of the related updating, as well as the related maximum period of usability of the data verified in the register itself, providing that the registration has indefinite duration and can be revoked at any time, using easy-to-use tools and free of charge; f) obligation for subjects who carry out data processing for the purpose of sending advertising material or direct sales or for carrying out market research or commercial communication, to guarantee the presentation of the identification of the calling line and to provide the suitable information, in particular on the possibility and on the methods of enrollment in the register to oppose future contacts; g) provision that registration in the register does not preclude the processing of data otherwise acquired and processed in compliance with articles 6 and 7 of the Regulation. 3-quater. Supervision and control over the organisation and functioning of the register referred to in paragraph 3-bis and over the processing of data are attributed to the Guarantor.
Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1, if the data controller uses the email coordinates provided by the interested party in the context of the sale of a product or service for the purpose of direct selling of his products or services, he can do not request the consent of the interested party, provided that the services are similar to those being sold and the interested party, adequately informed, does not refuse such use, initially or on the occasion of subsequent communications. The interested party, at the time of collection and on the occasion of sending each communication made for the purposes referred to in this paragraph, is informed of the possibility of opposing the treatment at any time, easily and free of charge.
In any case, the sending of communications for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 or, in any case, for promotional purposes, carried out by disguising or concealing the identity of the sender or in violation of article 8 of the legislative decree of 9 April 2003 is prohibited , n. 70, or without providing a suitable address at which the interested party can exercise the rights referred to in articles 15 to 22 of the Regulation, or by urging the recipients to visit websites that violate the aforementioned article 8 of legislative decree n. 70 of 2003.
In the event of repeated violation of the provisions referred to in this article, the Guarantor may, by providing pursuant to article 58 of the Regulation, also order electronic communication service providers to adopt filtering procedures or other practicable measures in relation to the coordinates of e-mail from which the communications were sent.
Related cases
Wind Tre was fined by the Garante for not allowing customers to withdraw consent or object to marketing data processing, lacking transparency in data information, using a single button for multiple consents, using small prints, bundled consents, and conducting unlawful data collection and unauthorised marketing.