Court steps in over misleading data protection mailings

Guisborough-based company Data Processing Protection Corporation Ltd, also known as 'Data Protection Corporation' and 'Data Processing Protection Corporation', was the subject of over 2,000 complaints to the Office of Fair Trading over the directly mailed adverts.

The adverts took the form of a request for notification, and were considered by the OFT to be misleading because they gave the impression they were from an official body, that the businesses receiving them were under a legal obligation to register with the sender and that notification costs £95. They also failed to explain properly which persons are exempt from notification under the Data Protection Act 1998.

The OFT took action under The Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations (CMARs) 1988, which give the OFT the power to step in if the public interest requires that advertisements complained of should be stopped by means of a court order.

Accordingly on Friday the OFT was granted an injunction against Data Protection Corporation, its officers Lee Parvin and Joan Parvin, and the proprietor of the business, Barry Parvin. The injunction restrains them from being involved with the misleading advertising in future.

Granting the order Mr Justice Lindsay said he had "no doubt that the advertisements were misleading."

Welcoming the injunction, John Vickers, OFT Chairman, said:

"The OFT has received thousands of complaints about this sort of misleading advertising. Many more businesses are being unwittingly taken in by it.

"Businesses should be on their guard and should contact the Information Commissioner if in any doubt about their obligations to notify under data protection legislation."

While most businesses processing personal data are required by law to notify the Information Commissioner, the fee is only £35 and many small businesses that process personal data for very limited purposes are not required to notify. Businesses usually notify the Information Commissioner directly.

The OFT has previously taken action against a number of similar mailings and is working closely with the Information Commissioner and local Trading Standards Services to tackle the problem. Unfortunately, to date there has been little in the way of punishment, which means that the practice is not being deterred.