B&T S.p.A. – €400,000 Fine (Italy, 2021)

The Italian DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 400,000 on B&T S.p.A. Two data subjects had complained to the DPA about unsolicited SMS advertising. In addition, they stated that it was not possible for them to make use of their right to information and right to object. During the course of the investigation, Garante discovered that B&T had contracted a marketing company to send promotional SMS messages to potential customers. The marketing company had then engaged other providers, which in turn had acquired their databases from third parties. As it turned out, the other providers had obtained the data of the contacted persons from unchecked and illegal lists of foreign companies, some of whose information came from registrations on information portals or online sweepstakes. In this context, the DPA pointed out that companies commissioning advertising campaigns must always make sure that the companies commissioned to do so are working correctly and that consumer data is being used lawfully.