Meal kit company HelloFresh has been prosecuted for sending millions of spam emails and texts to customers.
The recipe box firm was ordered to pay £140,000 after an Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) probe found it had sent almost 80 million spam emails and one million spam texts in seven months.
The ICO investigation began in March 2022 following 14 complaints made directly to the regulator, as well as to the 7726 spam message reporting service. It was also discovered that the company continued to contact some individuals long after they had requested this stop.
It also found customers were not given sufficient information that their data would be used for marketing for up to 24 months after cancelling their subscriptions.
Andy Curry, Head of Investigations at the ICO, said the HelloFresh campaign amounted to a “clear breach of trust.”
He added: “Customers weren’t told exactly what they’d be opting into, nor was it clear how to opt out. From there, they were hit with a barrage of marketing texts they didn’t want or expect, and in some cases, even when they told HelloFresh to stop, the deluge continued.
“In issuing this fine, we are showing that we will take clear and decisive action where we find the law has not been followed. We will always protect the right of customers to choose how their data is used.”
HelloFresh said it had since made changes to its SMS and email policy.
The ICO have issued more than £2,440,000 million in fines against companies responsible for nuisance calls, texts and emails since April 2023.
