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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 26 Mar 2002

Vol. 551 No. 2

Written Answers. - Commercial Communications.

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

91 Mr. Quinn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if consideration has been given to introducing further legislation or measures to deal with the growing problem of unsolicited electronic mail, junk faxes and other inappropriate methods of direct marketing; the submissions received by her on the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9787/02]

The European Communities (Protection of Consumers in Respect of Contracts Made by Means of Distance Communication) Regulations, 2001 (S.I. No. 207 of 2001), which I made last year, prohibit a supplier from enforcing a distance contract against a consumer if the contract is made by, amongst others, unsolicited commercial communications by electronic mail, UCE, unless there has been no clear objection from the consumer to this. The regulations also prohibit a supplier from enforcing a distance contract against a consumer where an automated calling system or a fax machine is used by the supplier unless the consumer has given his or her prior consent to this.

Draft regulations to give effect to those provisions of the Electronic Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) that were not transposed by the Electronic Commerce Act, 2000, are with the Attorney General for approval. These regulations will include provisions on UCE in line with Article 7 of the directive which requires member states which permit UCE to ensure that it is clearly identifiable as such as soon as it is received by the recipient. Article 7 also requires those sending UCE to consult regularly and respect opt out registers in which individuals not wishing to receive UCE can register their details.

My Department issued a discussion document on the transposition of the electronic commerce directive in 2001. A large number of submissions were received, including comments on UCE. My Department continues to have discussions with interested parties on issues relating to UCE, including the possibility of a code of practice to complement the regulations now in preparation.
My colleague, the Minister for Public Enterprise, will shortly be introducing regulations to transpose EU Directive 97/66/EC on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector. The regulations will also prohibit unsolicited telephone calls or faxes for the purposes of direct marketing to subscribers who have indicated they do not wish to receive such communications. This option will be facilitated by the establishment of an appropriate national database to which subscribers can indicate such a choice.
I understand the discussions on the draft EU directive on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector are also close to conclusion. The regulations to transpose that directive, which will be brought forward by the Minister for Public Enterprise, will also address unsolicited electronic mail, SMS text messages etc.
Under section 2 of the Data Protection Act, 1988, where personal data are kept for the purpose of direct marketing and a data subject requests the user of the data to cease using it for that purpose, the user of the data must comply with that request. These provisions are to be strengthened in the Data Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2002, which was recently published, by requiring direct marketers to get the prior approval of data subjects before using their personal data for direct marketing purposes.
The net effect of the various measures outlined above is that there will be a comprehensive set of legal rights available to persons in relation to unwanted e-mail and other forms of unwanted communications. I add that dealing on a national basis with the problem of unwanted e-mails in particular is uniquely difficult given the global nature of the Internet and the technical difficulties involved in regulating the technology at national level. There is, therefore, a particular onus on individuals using the Internet and indeed on the industry supplying Internet services within Ireland to help deal with the issue. National legislation alone cannot do so.
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