Penalty against trading platform

Penalty against trading platform

A Cypriot trading platform Skroutz.com.cy was ordered to pay €3,400 after several people complained of receiving unsolicited marketing emails from that company.

The local data protection authority reviewed the case and found that even after clicking the “unsubscribe” button at the end of the message, emails continued to be sent. In the course of the investigation, the authority requested evidence as to why the platform sends messages to those affected. Only in one of a total of six cases was it possible to prove that this person had previously purchased products via the platform. The company did not provide explanations for the remaining five affected persons. Furthermore, the company stated that due to a change in the newsletter service provider, messages continued to be sent to people who had already unsubscribed. He said this was a one-time offense and would not happen again.

The data protection authority gave little credence to the platform’s statement and imposed a fine accordingly. A corresponding report, including the company’s name, was also published on the authority’s website.

Therefore, the company must also expect bad press. In addition to Cyprus, the United Kingdom and Romania, for example, also publish the names of the penalized companies and individuals, respectively. Entrepreneurs should therefore definitely pay attention to compliance with the GDPR so that customers continue to have confidence. An easy way to meet the requirements of the GDPR is easyGDPR. This online tool enables the creation of the mandatory procedure directory at the click of a mouse. At the same time, easyGDPR checks whether your data processing is state of the art and whether the collection has a legal basis.

Entscheidungsdatum:
28.03.2019

Land:
Cyprus

Art des Verstoßes:
Illegal data processing

Betroffene Datensätze:
6

Waren sensible Daten betroffen?:
No

verhängte Geldstrafe:
€ 3,400,-

Quelle:
Decision of the Cyprus Data Protection Authority (Cypriot)