A computer company boss, branded “the Indian text pest” by The Mail on Sunday for allegedly bombarding Britons with half a million spam text messages every day, has been charged under the Data Protection Act.
Jayessh Shah boasted to an undercover reporter that his IT firm had sent huge numbers of messages telling people they were entitled to free refunds on the payment protection insurance policies they had taken out.
Anyone who responded to the texts, including those who indicated that they did not want to receive any more, was regarded as a sales lead by Shah, and their mobile number was sold to a claims management company for up to £7.50.
Shad claimed to have had made millions of pounds out of his business, and claimed he was immune from prosecution as it operated from outside the UK.
But the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has charged Shah for selling on personal data – an offence under the Data Protection Act. Shah registered his IT company, called Vintels, with the ICO, but allegedly failed to declare it sold personal data to other companies.
Shah, who has been under ICO investigation for nearly a year, is due to appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court in North London this week.
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Text spammer faces court for breaking data laws http://t.co/ogso08nQEC #directmarketing #digitalmarketing #advertising #data