Over the last few months, some Batswana have been complaining about receiving multitudes of daily marketing SMSes from several entities, including a certain pizza chain and a burger chain.
With the Data Protection Act now in effect, can it provide a remedy against these?
According to a DPA expert who spoke to BW TechZone on condition of anonymity so they can speak freely, the advertisers are indeed in breach of the law.
"The DPA says that direct marketing such as promotional SMSes needs direct and explicit consent and is there is none," the expert said, "then the said entity is in breach of the DPA."
The people who spoke to BW TechZone complaining about the SMSes says they do not recall explicitly giving this consent. Some says they do not even know where the entities go they mobile numbers.
To abide by the DPA, the entities who send the marketing SMSes should explicitly allow the recipient to opt out receiving them. According to texts reviewed by BW TechZone, some, and not all of the entities, do allow customers to opt out.
So what penalties does not compliance carry for those who decide not to follow the law?
According to the expert, the entities who bombard customers with these messages either with no explicit consent or not giving the customers to opt out can receive a fine of up to P500,000.
BW TechZone tried to reach out to several of the entities whom customers have fingered about the unsolicited marketing SMSes, but did not receive a response.