Context
The ICO has published a warning over ‘robo calls’ following its action against two organisations at the end of August this year (Home Improvement Marketing Ltd (HIM)– enforcement action and penalty notice – and Green Spark Energy Ltd (GSE) – enforcement action and penalty notice). The two firms were fined £300k and £250k respectively.
The ICO is warning the public to be on their guard against unlawful automated marketing ‘robo calls’. Both firms used an avatar software, which gave the call recipients the impression they were talking to ‘Jo, Helen or Ian’ from the UK – but were in fact scripted lines recorded by voice actors and played by call agents abroad. The ICO says that the robo call technology is making it harder for the public to spot automated calls and report them to the ICO.
Key points to note and next actions
- Both companies previously shared a common director (Mathew Terry) who is currently the director of HIM and, until March 2024, was a director of GSE.
- The ICO is urging the public to take note of its tips to spot these calls so they can tell the ICO when they’ve received one. This will help the ICO investigate and take enforcement action.
How to spot ‘robo calls’:
- Slight pauses before responses - there may be a noticeable delay between what you say and the responses you hear, as the agent selects the next pre-recorded clip.
- Limited flexibility – if you ask unusual questions, the replies may sound repetitive, generic or irrelevant because the system can only play pre-recorded options; the conversation always comes back to a fixed marketing script, regardless of your answers, because the ‘agent’ is limited to the script.
- Identical voice / tone across calls – you may receive multiple calls where ‘different agents’ sound the same or use the same accent or names.
- No background noise or natural breaks – unlike real call centres, avatar calls often sound overly polished, with no background chatter or noise.
Firms should reconsider the use of such technology in light of these ICO actions.