Immediate thoughts 1) ICO needs to be challenged on such a broad interpretation 2) go back to them with a firm argument why it isn’t DM and get them to make a proper analysis 3) if they maintain the position, see 1)
> On 5 Jul 2018, at 12:55, Paul Ticher <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Apologies for quite a long post, but I would be really grateful if people were able to aid my thinking on this.
>
> Yesterday I was with an organisation that provides support to vulnerable and at risk men, including sex workers and those who are street homeless. Obviously they need to make contact with these people so they do outreach work. As we are all no doubt aware it is not difficult to find street homeless people, so the outreach involves going onto the street and talking to them. However, sex workers nowadays tend to advertise themselves online so the organisation set up a programme of seeking these men out online and contacting them using their online contact details to offer support. The response was very positive indeed, and many of them took up the offer of support.
>
> The organisation then contacted the ICO for advice on retention periods, but when they described the programme the ICO said (over the phone, naturally, not in writing) that what they were doing contravened PECR because they were marketing their services using electronic means without prior consent. So the programme was terminated.
>
> The men involved are very likely to be vulnerable and at risk in the first place, and become more so when they take up sex work. The abandonment of the programme therefore has the likely consequence that individuals come to serious harm that might otherwise have been prevented.
>
> I understand the ICO wishing to have a definition of marketing that leaves no loopholes, but in my view, Data Protection is about protecting people, so this outcome seems perverse. There does not seem to be any other reasonable way in which the organisation could contact these men.
>
> So my questions are:
>
> Is this just an unfortunate consequence that we have to live with in the interests of the greater good?
> Has the ICO interpreted its own guidance on marketing correctly?
> If so, is there any basis or mechanism for challenging their guidance, either informally or formally?
> Best wishes,
>
> Paul
>
> Paul Ticher
> 22 Stoughton Drive North, Leicester LE5 5UB
> 0116 273 8191
>
> All archives of messages are stored permanently and are available to the world wide web community at large at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
>
> Selected commands (the command has been filled in below in the body of the email if you are receiving emails in HTML format):
>
> Leaving this list: send leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
> Suspending emails from all JISCMail lists: send SET * NOMAIL to [log in to unmask]
> To receive emails from this list in text format: send SET data-protection NOHTML to [log in to unmask]
> To receive emails from this list in HTML format: send SET data-protection HTML to [log in to unmask]
> All user commands can be found at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/subscribers/subscribercommands.html and are sent in the body of an otherwise blank email to [log in to unmask]
>
> Any queries about sending or receiving messages please send to the list owner [log in to unmask]
>
> (Please send all commands to [log in to unmask] not the list or the moderators, and all requests for technical help to [log in to unmask], the general office helpline)
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/subscribers/subscribercommands.html
Any queries about sending or receiving messages please send to the list owner
[log in to unmask]
Full help Desk - please email [log in to unmask] describing your needs
To receive these emails in HTML format send the command:
SET data-protection HTML to [log in to unmask]
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
