• by Ray Schultz , April 9, 2018

A venerable institution has found that nobody is above the UK’s privacy law.

Royal Mail, the postal delivery company founded in 1516, was hit with a £12,000 penalty by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for sending more than “nuisance emails” to 327,014 people who had opted out.

The ICO says it received a complaint from a consumer who had opted out. It found in a probe that on two dates last July, Royal Mail had sent emails to 327,014 people who had opted out of receiving direct marketing.

Royal Mail claimed that the emails discussed a price drop for parcels, and thus were service, not marketing messages.

But the ICO determined that the emails were marketing communications and violated regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Regulations, it says.  

“Royal Mail did not follow the law on direct marketing when it sent such a huge volume of emails, because the recipients had already clearly expressed they did not want to receive them,” states Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement for the ICO.  

Eckersley adds: “I hope this sends the message that we will take action against companies who flout them.” 

According to the ICO, a Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We are very sorry that we let some of our customers down on this occasion. Following this incident, we have tightened up our processes and governance measures still further. We are also launching additional training for colleagues.”