Halfords fined over unwanted marketing emails

Halfords has been fined for sending marketing emails to nearly 500,000 people without their consent.

The Information Commissioner’s Office said on Tuesday that it has fined the retailer £30,000, following complaints related to a direct marketing email about a ‘Fix Your Bike’ government voucher scheme, which was sent on 28 July 2020.

The government scheme allowed people to use a voucher worth up to £50 towards the cost of repairing a bicycle in any approved retailers or mechanics in England. However, the ICO said Halfords’ marketing email encouraged people to book a free bike assessment and to redeem the voucher at their chosen Halfords store.

An investigation by the ICO found that Halfords’ email message clearly advertised a service provided by the company, and that Halfords could not rely on legitimate interest to send the marketing email, as claimed by the company. This amounting to marketing its services which would generate income for the company, the ICO said.

ICO head of investigations Andy Curry said: "It is against the law to send marketing emails or texts to people without their permission. Not only this, it is a violation of their privacy rights as well as being frustrating and downright annoying.

"Halfords are a household name and we expect companies like them to know and act better. This incident does not reflect well on the internal advice or processes and therefore a fine was warranted in this case. This also sends a message to similar organisations to review their electronic marketing operations, and that we will take necessary action if they break the law."