16/2017 Argos Distributors (Ireland) Limited

Five individuals lodged complaints with us between December 2016 and February 2017 arising from difficulties they were experiencing in opting out of email marketing communications from Argos Distributors (Ireland) Limited. The complainants had supplied their email addresses in the context of making online purchases and they had not opted out of marketing communications at that point. However, when they subsequently attempted to opt out on receipt of marketing emails, the ‘unsubscribe’ system failed. Some complainants subsequently followed up by email to the company seeking to have their email addresses removed from the marketing database and they received responses by email to inform them that their requests had been actioned. However, they continued to receive further email marketing from Argos Distributors (Ireland) Limited.

In response to our investigation, the company acknowledged that its ‘unsubscribe’ system was not working properly for a period of time. It also discovered an issue in processing ‘unsubscribe’ requests for customers based in Ireland. It found that requests from Irish customers were being added to the ‘unsubscribe’ list for UK marketing. In all cases, it confirmed that the opt-out requests of the individuals concerned were now properly processed.

As the company had been warned previously in 2013 following the investigation of a similar complaint of a breach of the marketing regulations, the Data Protection Commissioner decided to prosecute it in relation to these offences.

At Navan District Court on 14 July 2017, Argos Distributors (Ireland) Limited pleaded guilty to five charges of sending unsolicited marketing emails to five individuals without consent. In lieu of a conviction and fine, the Court ordered the defendant to contribute €5,000 to a charity of the Court’s choosing. The defendant agreed to pay the prosecution costs incurred by the Data Protection Commissioner.