DPA case 10072622 – Violation Found (Italy, 2024)

On February 10, 2023, the data subject received an unsolicited promotional call in which the caller identified himself as an employee of a sales organization operating in the telecommunications sector. He offered services for setting up contracts on behalf of various national providers and requested to schedule an appointment with the data subject and a local agent. The data subject, who was registered in the Registro Pubblico delle Opposizioni (Public Opt-Out Register) to block telemarketing calls, had not provided consent for promotional communications. Also, the data subject independently investigated the organization behind the call and sent two emails to the local agent mentioned in the call to request information about how his data was obtained. The local agent replied denying possession of the data subject's personal data or the use of any marketing tools. On August 18, 2023, the data subject submitted a formal complaint to the Italian DPA. He highlighted the unsolicited promotional call, lack of consent for the data processing and his registration in the Public Opt-Out Register. On November 30, 2023, the DPA initiated an inquiry and sent an information request to the local agent, under [https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2003-06-30;196!vig=2016-11-14~art157 Article 157 Italian Data Protection Code] (Decreto Legislative 196/2003). The local agent responded, claiming the call was commissioned to a Tunisian market research company called Ste Nabi Call and that he had no direct involvement in contacting the data subject and did not possess his personal data. The DPA sent a second request for clarification, asking the agent to provide details about the service agreement with Ste Nabi Call and clarify the ownership and use of the phone number which called the data subject. In his response, the agent provided information about the agreement with Ste Nabi Call, stating it was for market research. Also, he denied knowledge of the