Lib Dems Done

Well it would appear the Information Commissioner agrees with me! The Office of the Information Commissioner has, today, decided that the Lib Dem's automated calling campaign they instigated last week was direct marketing, designed to promote the Liberal Democrats, not to conduct legitimate market research.

The BBC even reported comments from the ICO that "The ICO has consistently made clear that the promotion of a political party counts as marketing.

"We have previously issued detailed guidance to all major political parties on this subject."

Perhaps even more telling, in the light of the recent Ofcom statement allowing messages not for marketing content, he also added:

"Many people find unsolicited automated calls particularly intrusive and annoying so it is important that any organisation making such calls ensures that individuals have given their consent before they are targeted."

You can see the press release here and the full enforcement notice here.

Good on the Info Comm for coming to such a quick judgment. Hopefully this will be a lesson to anyone else considering such a stunt. Automated outbound messages are so cheap and easy to do that they will become a complete menace unless kept in check. Anybody in any doubt should watch the Simpsons episode "Lisa's Date with Density" where Homer buys a second hand auto-dialler to call the fine folk of Springfield to try and get them to give him money. It may not be much of a lesson in Privacy Law, but it's very funny.