May 22, 2017

Concept Car Credit Ltd was issued with the penalty following an investigation by the ICO.

The investigation found that the company, which offers both car finance and cars for sale, had breached data protection legislation relating to how companies can use people’s details to send marketing texts.

Steve Eckersley, ICO Head of Enforcement, said: “The mass sending of over 300,000 marketing text messages without following the rules is simply not on.  We have published clear guidance on how to comply with the law and have a helpline, which gives businesses further advice.  There’s no excuse for getting it wrong and intruding into people’s everyday lives with spam texts.”

The company told the ICO that it had obtained the data used to send the messages from other organisations.  As the instigator of the texts it was Concept Car Credit Ltd’s responsibility to ensure it was only texting people who had consented to receive the marketing.  The company failed to do this.

Alongside the fine, the ICO also issued an enforcement notice ordering the company to stop sending unlawful texts in the future.  If the company does not comply with the notice, it could face court action, the ICO says.  To read the ICO’s press release in full and for a link to the monetary penalty notice, click here.