News

🇮🇹 Italy - 🏠 Estate agency penalised for unwanted calls
🔔 A reminder: a single complaint can trigger an inspection!

Regulator: Il Garante (GPDP)
Source: n° 10110241

📌 Practice at issue
Commercial telephone prospecting from lists purchased from a broker, Realmaps, without verification of consent.

📂 Background
15 Jan 2024: Complaint by a private individual to the Italian regulator Il Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali (GPDP) against MA Immobiliare Srls for unwanted calls.

❌ Shortcomings observed
- Lack of random checks on the validity of numbers sold,
- No evidence of ‘free, specific and informed’ consent (art. 6 & 7 RGPD),
- Incomplete or non-existent information during calls (art. 12-14 RGPD),
- Poor management of the right to object and the right to erasure,
- Lack of cooperation with the authority: evasive answers.

💸 Penalty
- Administrative fine: €40,000
- Publication of the decision (reputational sanction)
- Formal notice: up to 2 years' imprisonment (art. 170 Code) + fine RGPD art. 83-5 e in the event of non-compliance

✅ Reminder of good practice
- Buyer = responsible
Buying a database does not exempt you from proving the lawfulness of consents: sample checks, supplier audit. Contractual clauses are not sufficient and do not dispense with the necessary checks.

- Real-time" information
During a call, the operator must provide: the identity of the data controller, the source of the data, the purpose, and the right to object to the marketing campaign.

- Process rights RGPD
It must be possible to respond directly and within 30 days, without referring the person back to the broker.

- Opposition register
Any telephone campaign in Italy requires the purging of the databases of the numbers entered in the opposition register. Failure to do so = automatic violation.

- Collaboration with the DPA
Evasive responses increase the amount of the fine; transparent communication can, on the contrary, reduce it.