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Pizza Hut Australia Fined $2.5 Million For Spamming Customers
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Pizza Hut Australia’s operator, Pizza Pan Group, has been fined $2.5 million for sending over 10 million unsolicited marketing texts and emails.
These messages were sent to customers who had either not consented to receive them or had unsubscribed.
The communications were over a four-month period, and was found to have violated Australian spam laws.
The penalty follows the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation.
Over the past 18 months, the ACMA has been intensively cracking down on spam.
"The public expects more from businesses who are using their data"
The ACMA investigation revealed between January and March 2023, Pizza Hut Australia sent 5.94 million marketing messages to customers who had previously requested to unsubscribe.
The company also sent 4.36 million messages without providing an option to unsubscribe.
This is a practice that ACMA member Samantha Yorke described as a source of "frustration" for many recipients.
She said: “Some of the customers involved had attempted to unsubscribe several times and received multiple messages after trying to stop them.
"The public expects more from businesses who are using their data.
“They have a right not to be sent marketing messages if they haven’t consented or have chosen to unsubscribe.
“The spam rules have been in place for over 20 years and there is simply no excuse for failing to uphold the rights of consumers.
“It is particularly disappointing when well-known businesses with large customer bases fail to meet their obligations in the way Pizza Hut has.”
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Pizza Hut Australia has agreed to a three-year court-enforceable undertaking in response to the breach.
This includes appointing an independent consultant to review and improve its compliance with spam regulations.
The company must also regularly report its progress to ACMA.
This latest enforcement action is part of ACMA's ongoing efforts, which have resulted in $15 million in penalties for spam and telemarketing violations issued to several companies over the past 18 months.
It includes Luxottica, Outdoor Supacentre, DoorDash, Ticketek, Uber, and Kmart.
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