Guidance on direct marketing using live calls

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (as amended) (PECR) cover live telephone calls made for direct marketing purposes.

This guidance discusses live marketing calls in detail. Read it if you have detailed questions not answered in the Guide to PECR, or if you need a deeper understanding of how PECR applies to making live direct marketing calls.

This guidance covers what you must do to comply with PECR if you want to make live marketing calls. Where this guidance uses the word “must”, this means that the law requires you to do something (so it’s a legal requirement). Where we use the word “should”, this is what we consider important to help you comply. You should follow this unless you have a good reason not to (good practice). However, you may take a different approach and still comply. Where we use the word “could” this refers to an option(s) that you may want to consider to help you comply (good practice). We have highlighted these words for ease.

If you haven’t yet read the telephone marketing page in the Guide to PECR, you may find it useful to read that first. It introduces this topic and sets out the key points you need to know, along with practical checklists to help you comply.

Contents

What are live direct marketing calls?

• Why is it important to know the PECR rules before making live marketing calls?
• What are live calls?
• What is direct marketing?
• What type of live marketing calls are covered?
• Does PECR apply even if we don’t know the name of the person we want to call?

What are the rules on live direct marketing calls?

• Who is responsible for complying with the rules on live marketing calls?
• What are the rules on making most types of live marketing calls?
• What does “solicited” and “unsolicited” mean?
• What is the Telephone Preference Service?
• What are the rules on making live marketing calls about claims management services?
• What are the rules on making live marketing calls about pension schemes?
• What is consent?
• What information do we need to provide when making live marketing calls?

How do we comply with the rules on live marketing calls?

• When can we make live marketing calls to people and businesses?
• Can we use bought-in lists or publicly available phone numbers to make live marketing calls?
• When can we call numbers registered on the TPS?
• Can people object to our live marketing calls?

What else do we need to consider?

• What is the relationship between PECR and the data protection regime?
• What do the data protection rules mean for live marketing calls?
• What happens if we don’t comply with PECR when making live marketing calls?