Monetary penalties · Marketing

Monetise Media Limited

£125,000penalty

Root cause Unlawful direct marketing Nuisance calls, spam texts or emails sent without valid consent — enforced under PECR rather than UK GDPR.

What happened

Between 28 July 2020 and 28 July 2021, Monetise Media Limited engaged in the transmission of a total of 3,506,157 direct marketing emails and text messages. These subscribers had not provided valid consent, contrary to the regulation 22 of PECR.

Between 28 July 2020 and 28 July 2021, Monetise Media Limited (MML) sent 3,506,157 direct marketing emails and text messages without valid consent, contrary to the regulation 22 of PECR. MML appealed the fine to the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber), which ruled that MML contravened regulation 22 and that the breach was so serious that warranted a fine. However, for the reasons set out on paragraphs 36-59 of the Tribunal's decision , the Tribunal reduced the fine from £125,000 to £85,000. MML has paid the fine.

Summarised from the notice published by the ICO on 14 December 2022. Read the original notice — it is the authoritative version.