ICO Hits Keurboom Communications With £400,000 For 100m Nuisance Calls

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has slapped a record-breaking £400,000 fine on a company behind 99.5 million nuisance calls. 

Keurboom Communications Ltd was the recipient of largest ever ICO fine, following complaints from more than 1,000 people angry about receiving automated/recorded calls. 

ICO v nuisance calls 

The ICO noted that over an 18 month periods the millions of calls made related to a range of subjects, including road accident claims and mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). 

The law states that cold marketing calls can only be make with the recipient’s consent and as such Keurboom Communications was found to be guilty of no gaining permission to make such calls. 

“Keurboom showed scant regard for the rules, causing upset and distress to people unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of one its 100million calls,” said Steve Eckerlsey, head of enforcement at the ICO. 

“The unprecedented scale of its campaign and Keurboom’s failure to co-operate with our investigation has resulted in the largest fine issued by the Information Commissioner for nuisance calls.”

The ICO has not been resting on its laurels when it comes to nuisance calls, having issued 23 companies totalling £1.9 million in between 2016 and 2017 so far. 

Furthermore, the ICO looks to be ready to pursue other companies that make undesired and illegal automated calls. 

“These calls have now stopped – as has Keurboom – but our work has not. We’ll continue to track down companies that blight people’s lives with nuisance calls, texts and emails,” said Eckerlsey. 

While the ICO tackles nuisance calls, it is not slacking off its data protection duties, having recently hit RSA with a £150,000 fine after the insurer had an unencrypted hard drive stolen from it. 

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