Problem Solving S.r.l. – €54,610 Fine (Italy, 2023)
General GDPR enforcement action
This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.
The Italian company Problem Solving S.r.l. was fined for improperly acquiring and sharing personal data from third parties for marketing purposes. This matters because it shows that companies must follow strict rules about how they collect and use people's personal information.
What happened
Problem Solving S.r.l. acquired and shared contact lists containing personal data without proper authorization.
Who was affected
Approximately 4,300,000 individuals whose personal data was included in the contact lists.
What the authority found
The authority found that the company violated privacy laws by not having a legal basis for acquiring and sharing the data.
Why this matters
This case serves as a warning to companies about the importance of compliance with data protection laws when handling personal information. It highlights the risks of using third-party data without proper checks.
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The Italian DPA investigated the Italian company Problem Solving s.r.l. (the Company) after having adopted a decision against the telephone company Vodafone Italia S.p.A. in November 2020. The DPA made an information request to the Company to which the Company replied on 5 November 2021. The Company acted as a telesales partner of Vodafone, and acquired lists containing contact details from third party providers to further communicate the lists to Vodafone. The agreement between Vodafone and the Company was about the execution of outbound and inbound call management services for the promotion of commercial campaigns. The agreement did not mention the activity of acquiring lists of contact details on behalf of Vodafone. The Company acquired contact lists containing approximately 4,300,000 personal data and communicated them to Vodafone between 2019 and 2020. The lists were acquired from third parties, Ad-Opera s.r.l. and BR Pharma s.r.l. The initial list provider was Ad-Opera s.r.l. which the Company chose to replace in 2020 with BR Pharma s.r.l. The latter was deemed more fit to raise the quality level of the Company’s activities. During the investigation, the Company claimed that it did not have any decision-making role on the use of any lists and viewed Vodafone as the controller. Vodafone, it argued, only allowed the use of the lists after a rigorous verification procedure. The Company argued that it uploaded the contact details on the "Vodafone Deduplica Liste" system, in order to obtain "validation" from Vodafone and to act in compliance with the will and purposes of Vodafone which the Company held was the controller. The Company also highlighted that it did not proceed to any further use of the lists of contact details in question. The DPA established that the company acquired approximately 4,300,000 personal data from Ad-Opera and BR Pharma, which the Company then had communicated to Vodafone for the purpose of carrying out promotional campaigns. The DPA con
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for Problem Solving S.r.l. in IT
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
Fine Date
23 February 2023
Authority
Garante per la protezione dei dati personali
Fine Amount
€54,610
GDPRhub ID
gdprhub-5800About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Problem Solving S.r.l. - Italy (2023). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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