Eni Plenitude fined 6 million for breach of privacy in telemarketing

The Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Italian Data Protection Authority) has sanctioned Eni Plenitude for €6,419,631, regarding certain telemarketing practices. In particular, the Garante contested to the company of the six-legged dog group promotional calls made without the consent of the person concerned or addressed to numbers entered in the Public Opposition Register and the absence of controls on contracts acquired through unlawful contacts.

As explained by the Garante, the measure comes after 108 reports and 7 complaints against the company, which complained of receiving unwanted phone calls. In the course of the investigation, the Garante also asked Eni Plenitude for data on the purchase proposals made by the sales network and concluded with the activation of energy services, relating to a 'sample week': out of 747 contracts stipulated in the identified time period, 657 came from an illegitimate contact. Numbers that, if they were hypothetically projected over a year, would lead to 32,850 illicitly activated supplies. In addition to the payment of the sanction, the Garante imposed on Eni Plenitude the prohibition of any further processing of the data of complainants and whistleblowers.

According to the Garante, in particular, the shortcomings concerning the control and monitoring of agencies and sub-agencies and the mixing of databases are serious. Moreover, again according to the Garante, in order to comply with the rule, it is not enough to remove the individual agent or to carry out audits in the event of anomalies, but measures are needed to prevent contracts concluded on the basis of unlawful telephone contacts or to take economic advantage of unlawful conduct from entering the company's systems.

Finally, the Garante indicated that the company will have to notify the 657 unlawfully contacted persons of the outcome of the proceedings on the basis of a text to be agreed with the Authority, set up controls to ensure that contracts generated by unlawful contacts do not enter the company's assets, and ensure compliance with the principles of data processing, with particular reference to the obligations to update, delete and rectify personal data relating to customers.

In a note "Plenitude confirms the correctness of its actions with respect to the requirements of the relevant legislation, both in terms of the protection of personal data and the management of its partners. The Company will further investigate the decision of the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali reserving the right to consider its appeal. The Company assures that it will continue to oppose, also through legal action, unlawful conduct and practices to protect consumers and the proper functioning of the market'.