Morrisons fined £10,500 for sending THOUSANDS of marketing emails to customers who said they didn’t want them
The supermarket chain sent 130,671 emails to people who had already opted out of marketing related to their More card
MORRISONS has been fined £10,500 for sending marketing emails to THOUSANDS of customers who said they didn't want them.
An investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found that Morrisons “deliberately sent” 130,671 marketing emails to Morrisons More card members, despite them opting out of receiving them.
Sent in October and November 2016, the emails were titled ‘Your Account Details’.
They invited customers to change their marketing preferences to start receiving money off coupons, extra More Points and the "latest news" from Morrisons.
ICO ruled that the supermarket was in breach of privacy and electronic communication regulations (PECR) and was fined £10,5000.
“It is vital that the public can trust companies to respect their wishes when it comes to how their personal information is used for marketing,” said ICO deputy commissioner Simon Entwisle.
“These customers had explicitly told Morrisons they didn’t want marketing emails about their More card. Morrisons ignored their decision and for that we’ve taken action,” he added.
Morrisons said they were disappointed by the decision.
A spokesperson for the supermarket said: “We sent out an information message to a small percentage of our customers that aimed to provide some helpful information about our service.
“We did this with the best of intentions and we’re disappointed that this was deemed to be ‘marketing material’.”
The fine ends a difficult week for Morrisons.
On Thursday, the retailer’s shareholders vented their anger over a planned bonus increase for chief executive David Potts.
Almost half voted against the supermarket's remuneration report at its annual general meeting.
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