Frequently asked questions about direct marketing
Electronic direct marketing includes direct marketing via automated calling systems, as well as direct marketing implemented using email, text, sound, voice or picture messages. Traditional direct marketing includes direct marketing by phone or letter.
For private persons
You can, at any time, ask the party responsible for direct marketing to stop processing your personal data for this purpose. If you no longer wish to receive marketing messages from a particular company, make a request directly to them. The marketing message must provide an easy way to stop receiving them, such as a cancellation link or another method of opting out.
Always contact the company first. If the company does not stop sending you electronic direct marketing despite your request, you can contact the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman.
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You may receive direct marketing emails because you have a customer relationship with the company that sends them. The company may use your contact information to market products or services equivalent to those you purchased, if you provided the information in connection with your purchase.
In this case, your consent is not required for direct marketing. However, you have the right to ask the company to stop sending you direct marketing messages, and the company must comply with your request.
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If you receive direct marketing emails from an unknown sender and you don't know how they obtained your contact details, you can contact them directly. You can ask where your contact details were obtained and why you are receiving electronic direct marketing.
You have the right to request that the sender stops using your personal data for direct marketing purposes. If you have not received a response within one month or if you continue to receive marketing messages despite having requested the sender to stop sending them, you can file a complaint with the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman. However, the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman can only begin to process your complaint after you have first contacted the sender.
For example, companies or associations may collect email addresses online in connection with competitions or prize draws. In that case, they must ask for your consent for later use of the contact information for direct marketing.
The sender may have obtained your email address using a program that gathers such addresses from the internet. The Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman cannot, in every case, identify the sender of email messages, or how certain data came into the possession of the sender.
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Even if direct marketing has been outsourced to another company, you still have the right to request that your personal data is not used for this purpose. You can submit the request either directly to the company from which you receive direct marketing or to the company that has outsourced its direct marketing to another company. The request can be free-form, and you can make the request during a direct marketing call, for example.
If you want to opt out of receiving direct marketing, make this clear when making the prohibition. Hanging up in the middle of a telesales call does not mean a prohibition of direct marketing.
Even if direct marketing has been outsourced, you still have the right to know where your contact information came from. Outsourced direct marketing may also be what is called affiliate marketing. Here, the advertising company enters into an agreement with its partners, whose platforms, such as websites, social media accounts and newsletters, display the company's advertising.
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Once you have opted out of direct marketing from a company, it must stop using your personal data for this purpose. The company must ensure that you are no longer targeted by direct marketing.
If you continue to receive direct marketing despite the prohibition, contact the company directly, for example the company's Data Protection Officer. If you cannot resolve the matter with the company, you can contact the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman.
If, in addition to prohibiting direct marketing, you have asked the company to delete all your data, it may also have deleted the entry showing this prohibition. Contact the company to clarify the matter, making it clear that you do not want the entry on your direct marketing prohibition to be removed.
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Every electronic direct marketing message must include an option to opt out of receiving marketing messages easily and free of charge. The sender of the direct marketing message is not required to include an 'unsubscribe' or 'leave the email list' link. However, they must offer an alternative easy way to opt out of receiving direct marketing messages.
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Unlike electronic direct marketing, prior consent from the recipient is not required for traditional methods, such as telephone marketing. Even in this case, however, you always have the right to object to direct marketing. This means that the company is no longer permitted to process your personal data for this purpose.
Send your request directly to the company from which you no longer wish to receive telemarketing. For example, the request can be made during a marketing call. Even if the direct marketing calls are outsourced to another company, you can still prohibit them.
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Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority's Advice: Prohibiting direct marketing and telemarketing
In certain situations, sending direct marketing to a work email address in the format [email protected] is permitted without prior consent.
Your consent to direct marketing is not required if you work in a company whose activities are essentially related to the services or commodities offered through direct marketing. In this case, direct marketing can be sent to your work email address based on what is known as authorisation by role. However, before starting direct marketing, the sender must verify your role.
If there is no authorisation by role, the company must request your consent for direct marketing purposes.
In both situations, you have the right to opt out of electronic direct marketing by contacting either the company in question or the party that sent the marketing messages on their behalf.