One provider made participation in a competition dependent on consent to advertising. As a minimum, consent had to be given to receive information by post, telephone or email/SMS about offers from their business area. Only after clicking on an additional link did the user learn that they had given their consent to up to 30 companies for telephone advertising.

The scope and use of the data must be recognizable in advance

According to § 7 Abs. 2 No. 2 UWG, express consent to telephone calls is required. Only in the case of an “opt-in” procedure with knowledge of the specific use can the consumer make a declaration as consent.

If the consumer is only informed of the exact scope by means of “further information”, this is not sufficient. It is to be feared that they will give their consent by ticking the relevant box and only then read through all the relevant information. With this approach, the consumer is forced to “revoke” the consent they have already given as a whole or at least in the respective specific case by removing the cross or deselecting the respective company (Regional Court Frankfurt a.M., judgment of 10.12.2014, Ref.: 2-06 O 030/14). This would be tantamount to an “opt-out”.

Unsolicited telephone advertising is not abating

The consumer advice center states that 84 percent of 2,800 participants have never or at least not consciously consented to an advertising call. Nevertheless, almost 93 percent of those surveyed receive private advertising calls. This should not be the case. It is worth fighting back – we will be happy to help you!

This article is part of our blog series on the topic of telephone advertising. In it, we show you which points companies and consumers should consider with regard to telephone advertising and how you can protect yourself from legal violations. We have already published articles on the legal changes relating to advertising companies and the legal changes to protect consumers.