Emerging Best Practice in Do Not Call Registers (8 September 2009)

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2.4. Spain

In 2003 Spain established a register known as Listas Robinson or The Robinson List. (Do Not Call Registers are sometimes known as Robinson Lists – a reference to the privacy and isolation of the Swiss Family Robinson.) The Spanish register was instituted under Law 32/2003 – General Law of Telecommunications, and Law 34/2002 – Services of the Society of the Information and of Electronic Commerce.

Initially the Listas Robinson was designed to cover direct mail campaigns, but in 2009 it was extended to cover mobile phones and email.[15] It now covers email, SMS, MMS, postal mail and telephone landlines. Registration covers both domestic and business purposes. Once registered, users have an online log-in to a system where they may update details or deregister from the list.

The Listas Robinson is administered and operated by the Federation of Electronic Commerce and Direct Marketing (or in Spanish the Federación de Comercio Electrónico y Marketing Directo (FECEMD)). There is some additional oversight by the Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) who can receive complaints about breaches of Spain’s data protection legislation, including breaches of the Listas Robinson rules.

Although the register is established by legislation, it is run by the private sector. This approach is quite common in Europe and works well where there is some ongoing oversight and supervision by the Government.

In an interesting innovation, Spain also has a ‘positive’ list – a list of people who want to receive additional direct marketing. As the Listas Robinson has only been operating for telephone calls and email for a short time there are no figures available on the number of registered users.

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[15] IT Online Communities, Spain unveils Robinson List service to fight commercial spam, 7 July 2009, <http://it.tmcnet.com/news/2009/07/07/4260191.htm>.

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