Online wine retailer Get Wines Direct has been issued a formal warning for sending marketing messages without the consent of recipients.
An investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that Get Wines Direct breached the Spam Act by sending unsolicited marketing emails to addresses not on its subscriber list. The retailer was rebuilding it's marketing database following a cyber attack, when it included email addresses from users who had previously unsubscribed.
ACMA said that even when Get Wines Direct became aware the messages were being sent to these consumers, it continued its marketing campaigns and did not take steps to ensure its emails were not misdirected.
The Spam Act 2003 regulates unsolicited commercial electronic messages and sets out that emails must not be sent without concern, identification of the organisation marketing the message and an unsubscribe button.
ADMA CEO Jodie Sangster told AdNews one of the issues the industry faces is that different data warrants different rules from either the Spam Act, the Privacy Act or the Do Not Call Register.
“Depending on what data you're collecting, different rules apply. In reality as marketers, we're collecting data at a single point so trying to juggle what all these different sources of legislation require can be quite tricky,” Sangster said.
She said the industry needs to move towards a transparency model which allows consumers to understand what is happening with their data and make choices around it.
“We're still stuck in this world of opt in and opt out and I think its more about transparency. It's about consumers understanding what is happening with their information and with their data and then having a place to go to where they can make preferences and choices,” Sangster added.
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