Vol. 574 No. 1
136 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his Department has transposed EU Directive 2002/58/EC, regarding the control of Spam, into Irish law; the main features of the directive; when it will come into operation here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26291/03]
I signed the regulations implementing EU Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector on 6 November 2003. The regulations came into force on the date. The main features of the directive and the regulations are the right of subscribers to determine which of their personal data are included in publicly available directories of subscribers; a requirement that subscribers are informed of the purposes of public directories before they are included in them and given complete information about the ways in which their personal data can subsequently be used or accessed for example by reverse search functions; provision for the processing of mobile location data, with subscriber's consent, for providing new value added services – subscribers also have the right to withdraw their consent to such processing at any time; con fidentiality provisions are extended to the use of electronic communications networks to store information or to gain access to information stored in the terminal equipment of users; restrictions on unsolicited direct marketing by telephone, fax, automated calling systems, email, SMS and MMS are introduced – notably, the regulations introduce a ‘ban on Spam' originating in the EU. Spam, email marketing, with a limited exception – covering existing customer relationships – is only allowed with prior consent. Disguised identities and invalid return addresses, often used by "spammers", are also outlawed. This ‘opt-in' regime equally covers SMS messages and other electronic messages sent to any mobile phone and fixed terminal. Some protections against unsolicited commercial emails to businesses are also provided; additional consumer protection measures, including access to the courts for redress for loss or damage suffered as a result of contravention of the regulations; and provisions for investigations of suspected breaches of various regulations to be initiated by the Data Protection Commissioner.
