As part of the application process for a SEG tariff, I had to answer a question about opting in to receive marketing communications. I was asked if I wanted to opt-in to receiving marketing communications by SMS, Email or Telephone. As someone who hates marketing texts, spam and junk mail I didn't opt in to any of them, which is where the problem is:
The form won't let you carry on to the next question without "opting in" to receive at least one type of marketing communication!
That's not how consent works, E.on.
The Office of thew Information Commissioner has a nice explanation of how the law works in relation to marketing consent on their website. The relevant part says:
"How does consent apply to direct marketing?If you want to ask people to give you consent for direct marketing, you must make sure it is:
So by forcing me to consent, E.on is breaking article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament, better known as the GDPR.
This ought to be pretty easy to fix though, all E.on needs to do is make that an optional question and give everyone they have forced to opt in an opportunity to opt out.
The form won't let you carry on to the next question without "opting in" to receive at least one type of marketing communication!
That's not how consent works, E.on.
The Office of thew Information Commissioner has a nice explanation of how the law works in relation to marketing consent on their website. The relevant part says:
"How does consent apply to direct marketing?If you want to ask people to give you consent for direct marketing, you must make sure it is:
- freely given: People must have genuine choice and control over whether or not to consent to your direct marketing. In many cases it is unlikely you can make consent for direct marketing a condition of your service. They must be able to refuse consent without detriment (there’s usually some benefit of consenting to direct marketing, such as access to special offers, but it is important to avoid unduly incentivising people to consent). They must also be able to withdraw their consent at any time (see What do we do if someone withdraws their consent?)"
So by forcing me to consent, E.on is breaking article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament, better known as the GDPR.
This ought to be pretty easy to fix though, all E.on needs to do is make that an optional question and give everyone they have forced to opt in an opportunity to opt out.
