Spam text firm owners fined under new powers
THE owners of a marketing company that sent out millions of spam texts have been fined £440,000 by the Information Commissioner.
The action against Birmingham and Stockport-based Tetrus Telecoms’ owners Christopher Niebel and Gary McNeish came after an 18-month investigation.
It involved raids at the company’s Stockport premises, in August 2011, and the Manchester home of Niebel, in February. The evidence obtained showed Tetrus was using unregistered pay-as-you-go sim cards to send out as many as 840,000 illegal text messages a day with an income of £7,000-£8,000 a day.
The two men are understood to have made hundreds of thousands of pounds profit since setting up the business in 2009. Niebel has been ordered to pay a penalty of £300,000, while McNeish, who the commissioner said had taken less out of the business, has been fined £140,000.
Niebel and McNeish are also facing prosecution from the Information Commissioner for failing to notify that Tetrus Telecoms was processing personal information. Notification is a legal requirement for organisations under the Data Protection Act punishable by a penalty up to £5,000 in the Magistrates Court, and a potentially unlimited fine in the Crown Court.
It is the first time the commissioner has issued a fine for a serious breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) since the powers were approved in January. It is also considering action against three other companies.
Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said: “The public have told us that they are distressed and annoyed by the constant bombardment of illegal texts and calls and we are currently cracking down on the companies responsible, using the full force of the law.
“In March we set up a survey on the ICO website so people can tell us about any unwanted texts and calls they have been receiving. So far we have received over 60,000 responses.
“We know the majority of these messages and calls have been made by companies who try to remain anonymous in the hope they can profit by selling personal information to claims management companies and other marketing organisations.
“We are using the information provided by the public to identify those responsible.”
