Nuisance call firms face new crackdown by regulator

The Information Commissioners' Office (ICO) says it will be writing to 1,000 companies involved in buying and selling personal data to check they are acting lawfully.

The firms are all thought to play a role in compiling and trading lists of names and numbers used by cold callers.

The ICO also said it would announce three fines this week.

One penalty will be for a company that sent more than one million text messages about PPI claims.

Another fine is being levied against a second company that was cold-calling individuals in a bid to sell them so-called "blocker" software it claimed could prevent similar unwanted calls in the future.

Once the latest fines are applied, the ICO said the penalties imposed in the past four months alone would be £1m.

The ICO expects the companies to set out exactly how they comply with the law, including what data they shared.

It will also ask for a list of the companies they recently worked with.

'Big breakthroughs'

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said the sector had prompted 180,000 complaints a year from consumers.

"That information has helped us to make some big breakthroughs in the nuisance calls business, alongside the intelligence we build up from elsewhere, from whistleblowers for instance, or from the network providers," he said.

"We see clear patterns building up and can identify who ... the truly bad actors are. This enables us to execute search warrants, and to drag people before the courts."

Bolton-based personal injuries claims group Direct Assist, which was the subject of more than 800 complaints to the ICO, went into liquidation in the summer after being fined £80,000 for making unsolicited calls.

However, Mr Graham conceded: "There's a danger that where we remove one of the hydra's head, two grow back in its place".

Richard Lloyd, executive director of consumer group Which?, welcomed the ICO response, but called for further action to eliminate nuisance calls.

"We now need to see much tougher penalties for senior executives of companies making unlawful calls, including board directors being held personally accountable." he said.