A fine was imposed on Halfords by the UK’s privacy regulator after numerous complaints were raised about a marketing email encouraging people to redeem a £50 voucher.
Even though Halfords maintained that the £50 government-backed voucher represented a legitimate interest, the ICO said it was a marketing email which they would derive income from, which meant it was therefore not only unsolicited but also outside the remit of legitimate interest, according to the ICO. This is especially as the recipients had not opted-in.
The £30,000 punishment sends the signal to businesses that the ICO is increasingly active and is a stark reminder to maintain good data protection policies.