On the 31st of January the Public Register of Objections, also known as the Robinson list, started its activities. This is a list of customers of telephone companies who do not wish to be contacted by phone for marketing purposes.
The activity of the Register, provided for by DPR 178/2010 completes the switch over to the opt-out system of transmission of marketing phone calls in Italy.
Previously it was necessary for customers to explicitly express their consent to receive marketing calls from telephone operators (according the so-called opt-in system). Now operators will be allowed to call without customers’ approval unless customers are registered with the Public Register of Objections.
Registration is free of charge and can be made through five different channels as described at www.registrodelleopposizioni.it.
As well as private numbers it will be possible to register those of public bodies and companies on the list.
There will be a 15 day transition period during which marketing calls may still be received, after which the registered number will be disabled indefinitely for all marketing operators.
Customers, however, may remove their numbers from the list at any time.
Unfortunately, registration in the Register of Objections can only be made for those telephone numbers that have previously appeared in public telephone directories or yellow pages.
Paradoxically, therefore, neither those mobile numbers nor the numbers of those landlines which do not appear in public directories for reasons of privacy will be able to benefit from the ability to entirely stop marketing calls.
Those customers may still be able to prevent telemarketing operators from further use of their numbers by recourse to opposition to treatment of their personal data, as provided for by article 7 of the Privacy Code.
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