Virgin Mobile offered this month an enforceable undertaking to develop comprehensive training programs for its staff and to re-examine its email marketing process following an investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) into an alleged breach of the Spam Act.
The company also undertook to pay the ACMA $22,000 for the alleged violation.
The ACMA’s investigation was in connection with emails sent by the company to its customers who had ‘opted out’ of receiving marketing messages from the company. The email, according to ACMA, included the following text:
‘When you joined us you asked not to receive any promotional material. We totally respect that decision and you can remain promo-free as long as you like. To make sure you’re still certain about this choice, we just wanted to quickly show you some examples of recent offers that we’ve sent to customers…’
Although the text of Virgin Mobile’s message focused on promoting the benefits of ‘opting in,’ the ACMA formed the view that the messages were commercial electronic messages sent without consent of the recipients ‘even if it is just to ask if they have changed their mind.’
In addition, the messages were sent without an unsubscribe facility.
Last month, the ACMA also found another high-profile company, CommSec, allegedly in breach of the Spam Act. Other similar incidents were also reported by the ACMA during 2009.
Source: ACMA
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