The National Supervisory Authority has finalized an investigation with the controller Elefant Online S.A. and found that it infringed the provisions of Article 13 paragraph (1) letter q) of Law no. 506/2004, corroborated with Article 13 paragraph (5) of Law no. 506/2004 and with Article 7 of the Government Ordinance no. 2/2001.

The controller Elefant Online S.A. was sanctioned with a fine in the amount of 10,000 lei.

The sanction was applied to the controller because it did not prove that it obtained the express and unequivocal prior consent for the transmission of commercial messages by e-mail, in violation of the provisions regarding the unsolicited communications provided by Article 13 paragraph (1) letter q) of Law no. 506/2004 on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector.

In this context, the company was recommended to take the necessary measures to comply with the provisions of Article 12 of Law no. 506/2004, for sending commercial messages through electronic means of communication only with the express prior consent of the recipients.

Autoritatea Naţională de Supraveghere a aplicat sancțiunea ca urmare a unei plângeri prin care se reclama faptul că operatorul Elefant Online S.A. a transmis petentului mesaje comerciale nesolicitate pe adresa de e-mail a acestuia fără consimțământul său. Astfel, deși petentul se dezabonase atât pe site-ul operatorului, cât și prin link-urile de dezabonare din newslettere, acesta a continuat să primească din partea Elefant Online S.A. mesaje comerciale nesolicitate pe adresa sa de e-mail.

The National Supervisory Authority imposed the sanction as a result of a petition claiming that the controller Elefant Online S.A. transmitted to the petitioner unsolicited commercial messages on his e-mail address without his consent. Thus, although the petitioner had unsubscribed both on the controller’s website and through the unsubscribe links in the newsletters, he continued to receive unsolicited commercial messages on his e-mail address from Elefant Online S.A..

Legal and Communication Department

A.N.S.P.D.C.P.