Culture, Media and Sport CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by The Data Governance Forum [NTC 021]

1.1 About the Data Governance Forum

The Data Governance Forum is a membership organisation which informs, connects and represents commercial and not-for-profit organisations which rely on personal information to drive value for their businesses. It was launched in April 2011.

As at 15 August 2013, The Data Governance Forum has 150 individual members from over 100 organisations covering a wide range of sectors, including charities, financial services, media, telecommunications, travel and leisure.

Members of The Data Governance Forum manage over 725 million customer records and have a combined turnover of more than £143 billion.

The Forum has held regular meetings with representatives of the Information Commissioner’s Office to exchange views on the commercial use of personal information and the impact of regulations. A formal submission on the proposed Data Protection Regulation was made to the ICO on behalf of Forum members.

1.2 Nuisance Calls

As responsible brands, members of the Forum adopt best practice in the use of personal information within their marketing programmes. This includes ensuring data has been collected with appropriate permissions, that any outbound calling lists are screened against the Telephone Preference Service, and that systems used to manage the calling process are properly programmed to avoid silent or abandoned calls.

While it is impossible to prove that no Forum member is directly responsible for any of the activities under investigation, this issue is one of great concern to members as it degrades the value and utility of telephone calls for marketing and customer management purposes. Any initiative which reduces the scale of nuisance and therefore enhances this channel for use by responsible, legitimate brands is therefore welcomed.

1.3 Inquiry Focus Areas of Concern

1.3.1 Consent

Gaining permission from data subjects is at the heart of The Data Governance Forum’s mission and informs best practice adopted by its members. Clarity about the purpose for which data is being collected and transparency about its use is central to compliance by members with all appropriate legislation.

At the same time, it is widely recognised that a commercial organisation can never fully know the potential uses to which an item of permissioned data might be put in the future. For example, product development and launches are an important area of focus for marketing but are hard to predict, especially in fast-developing markets such as technology, telecoms, internet services and broadcasting. Access to customer and prospect data is essential to the commercialisation of these new products and services.

Balancing this need for permissioned data with consumer protection is an ongoing challenge. The Forum believes that the majority of consumers understand the need for companies to use their personal information and are willing to provide this data provided there is a clear “value exchange”.

To prove this point, research was carried out in 2012 among 2,000 consumers into the issue as part of the Forum’s submission to the ICO. Appendix One shows a key finding—the majority of consumers are willing to share their personal information and accept it will be handled securely and responsibly whenever organisations demonstrate that this data makes services more personalised.

In certain circumstances, permission is obtained to cover these future uses which can not be fully defined at the moment of data capture. This is especially true for commercial data gathering companies who provide an important source of prospect marketing data. The reality of this should not be taken as proof that consent is “inadvertent” or “uninformed”, only that there are limits to what can be explained and also that consumers may simply forget when and where they provided their personal information.

The Data Governance Forum welcomes any move to clarify the terms under which consent must be collected, such as those being proposed within the Data Protection Regulation. However, a move to a fully opt-in environment may have significant consequences on the performance of marketing and therefore the development of new products and services. It is also concerned that any new position taken by the Select Committee on consent should not cause confusion around the UK Government’s response to the Data Protection Regulation.

1.3.2 Telephone Preference Service

Providing consumers with a mechanism to opt-out of unsolicited telemarketing calls and texts is an important component within data protection and a desirable element of permission marketing. Members of The Data Governance Forum are increasingly introducing Privacy Control Centres which allow their customers to view or amend their personal information and update their consent around marketing activities.

Providing prospects with a similar mechanism is by its very nature beyond the scope of individual businesses. It is therefore critical that the controls on offer are credible, efficient, reliable and accessible.

The Data Governance Forum contends that the current Telephone Preference Service is not fit for purpose and should be subject to a thorough-going review on the following grounds:

Data quality—the TPS file itself suffers from a number of inherent flaws which mean redundant telephone numbers or those which belonged to deceased subscribers are not removed. This has led to the cumulative growth of the file, increasing data processing costs and creating challenges in matching prospect marketing files against the source.

Registration process—TPS currently operates as a one-time registration. The Forum believes that consumers should be encouraged to update their registration on a regular basis—perhaps annually—in order to ensure the recency and relevance of what the file is intended to create: a clear picture of consent.

Innovation—little has been done to develop TPS both as a service to users of telemarketing or to consumers. As a result, there is relatively little pressure on “bad actors” in the marketplace to screen against the file or to demonstrate their bone fides to consumers by proving they have done this.

Competition—since its inception 14 years ago, the TPS has been operated by the same licence holder with no genuine competition at each five-year renewal period. It is critical to the credibility and value of the service that everything possible is done to support viable alternative providers in contesting for the licence the next time around.

The Data Governance Forum encourages the Select Committee to undertake an in-depth review of the Telephone Preference Service, including the definition of its operating parameters and the process by which a licence is granted to its controller with a view to encouraging innovation and competition in the process.

2. Further Steps

The Data Governance Forum would welcome the opportunity to provide the Select Committee with further evidence on behalf of or in company with its members.

August 2013

APPENDIX ONE

DATA GOVERNANCE FORUM CONSUMER RESEARCH FINDINGS