ICO and Federal Communications Commission sign Memorandum of Understanding

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which formalises their commitment to work together to protect people from unwanted nuisance calls, spam messaging and the misuse of private and sensitive data.

Building on the parties’ existing collaboration on electronic marketing and antispam regulation through the Unsolicited Communications Network (UCENet), the MoU sets out how the authorities will enable greater information sharing in areas such as technical developments, intelligence and the exploration of potential solutions to issues such as scam calls, caller ID spoofing and data privacy matters.

As consumers share more of their personal information online, the increased cooperation between the ICO and FCC will enable both organisations to better protect people’s privacy at a time when their data is more likely to be sent around the world for storing and processing.

The ICO25 strategic plan made a commitment to tackling predatory marketing. The impact of unsolicited calls and messages continues to have a profound effect, especially on people at greater risk of harm; such as older people and those with illnesses and disabilities. ICO investigations have uncovered evidence of people losing thousands of pounds from their life savings to unscrupulous cold callers.