On May, 25, 2021, the Spanish Data Protection Authority (‘AEPD’) issued €50,000 fine on Vodafone, for failing to facilitate the data subjects’ right to object to receiving telephone calls.
In the present case, the claimant received calls between 2017 and 2020 from Vodafone and its entities despite having exercised his right to object to receiving calls. The AEPD noted that Vodafone was in breach of Article 48.1.b of Law 9/2014, of May 9 2014, on General Telecommunications.
The AEPD considered the following aggravated factors for imposing the sanction imposed :
- More than 50 previous sanctioning procedures against Vodafone in the last two years;
- Promotional actions analysed are aimed at obtaining business benefits, both direct and indirect; and
- Claimant has had to bring a claim before the AEPD and the Consumer Agency of the Principality of Asturias. There are no remedial actions by VDF that did not include the complainant in its internal call exclusion list until 04/1/2020, three years after exercising the right to object.
