The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined moneysupermarket.com £80,000 for sending emails to customers who had previously opted out from the service.

The content of the email was regarding updating of terms and conditions, sent to over 7.1 million people in a 10 day period in 2016. UK law states that asking people to consent to future marketing messages once they have already opted out is illegal.

Out of the 7.1 million emails sent, 6,788,496 were received.

“Organisations can’t get around the law by sending direct marketing dressed up as legitimate updates,” commented Steve Eckersley, ICO head of enforcement.

“When people opt out of direct marketing, organisations must stop sending it, no questions asked, until such time as the consumer gives their consent. They don’t get a chance to persuade people to change their minds.

“Emails sent by companies to consumers under the guise of ‘customer service’, checking or seeking their consent, is a circumvention of the rules and is unacceptable. We will continue to take action against that choose to ignore the rules.”

The ICO is a UK independent authority created to uphold information rights in the public interest.