The Information Commissioner’s Office has run into further bother over its draft guidance on GDPR consent with what appears to be a major cock-up over the powers of the Fundraising Preference Service.
Last week, the DMA took issue with the ICO over plans to crack down on the use of third-party data, insisting that changing the rules so that personal information can only be shared with named companies will not only stifle growth, and cost the industry millions, but trigger mass redundancies across the sector.
Now, the Fundraising Regulator has cried foul over a key section of the draft guidance which states that if an individual wants to stop receiving charity marketing, “they can use the FPS to withdraw consent from all charities at once”.
In its response to the consultation, the charity body is at pains to stress that the FPS “will not allow individuals to use the [service] to ‘withdraw consent from all charities at once’. It will allow individuals to withdraw consent from specific charities that they name.”
Initially, the FPS was to take an “all or nothing” approach. But the U-turn was triggered in part by the Disasters Emergency Committee and its member charities, who wrote to the Minister for Civil Society Rob Wilson expressing concerns about the effect of the FPS on emergency appeals.
The charity regulator is now demanding an urgent amendment to the guidance. It said: “While we appreciate and support the need for stronger wording in the new guidance under the stricter GDPR, we would advocate that a statement is provided acknowledging a change in language used and contextualising this, to avoid the risk of being seen to contradict previous guidance.”
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