Iren Mercato S.p.A. – €2,856,169 Fine (Italy, 2021)

The Italian DPA (Garante) fined Iren Mercato S.p.A. EUR 2,856,169 for failing to verify that all transfers of data of recipients of promotional activities were covered by consent. Several data subjects filed complaints with the DPA against the controller because they had received unsolicited advertising to which they had never consented. In its investigation against the cotroller, the DPA found that the cotroller had in fact processed personal data for telemarketing activities that it had not collected directly but had acquired from other sources. It had not checked whether valid consents had been obtained from the advertising addressees for all transfers of the data. The controller had received lists of personal data from one company, which in turn had acquired them from two other companies. The latter companies had obtained the consent of potential customers for the telemarketing carried out by them and by third parties, but this consent did not include the transfer of customer data to the controller. In this context, the DPA emphasized that consent given by a customer to a company for third-party promotional activities cannot extend its effectiveness to subsequent transfers to other operators.