Company fined after thousands of complaints over spam faxing

by Staff, Brand Republic 20-Feb-08, 14:15

LONDON - A company has been prosecuted and fined for sending unwanted marketing faxes after thousands of complaints from businesses and individuals.

ADC Organisation, a Manchester-based debt recovery company, has been told to pay £2,526.25 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to six charges under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

However, the fine constitutes only £100 per charge, adding up to £600 in total. The total amount was made up by £1,926.25 in costs the company was ordered to pay.

ADC continued to send out unsolicited faxes despite having been issued with an enforcement notice by the Information Commissioner's Office ordering to it stop targeting businesses and individuals who were registered with the Fax Preference Service. Since then, the ICO and FPS received over 2,000 complaints about the company.

Mick Gorrill, assistant commissioner at the ICO, said: "Unsolicited marketing faxes can be just as irritating and intrusive as unwanted marketing phone calls. This practice is unacceptable and our action against ADC sends out a strong signal to any unscrupulous businesses that flout the rules."