Telegraph fined £30,000 for 'crossing the line' by emailing readers to urge them to vote Conservative

ICO says the paper abused 'soft opt-in' policy by emailing readers 'political campaigning' material on the day of the election

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has fined the Telegraph Media Group £30,000 for sending emails urging readers of the Telegraph to vote Conservative, even they had not consented to being sent such content.

The ICO and the Telegraph received a total of 17 complaints from readers who received the message from the newspaper's editor Chris Evans on 7th May, the day of the UK General Election.

The ICO judged the paper to have contravened Regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation 2004 (PECR) which seeks to protect individuals from unsolicited emails.

Like many media organisations, the Telegraph maintains different email lists for readers who want to receive different types of email content. There is an "editorial" mailing list subscribed to by readers wishing to receive email newsletters, and a "marketing" list for commercial promotions, which is normally governed by an opt-out box. The lists are subject to a "soft opt-in" giving the publisher some leeway in the type of commercial content that can be sent by email to an individual, even if they have opted out of marketing communications. This is governed by a system of flags attached to each individual's record. However, Regulation 22 states that this soft opt-in "does not apply to non-commercial communications such as ... election campaigning".

The editors' letter was scheduled for inclusion in an election day editorial newsletter at the last minute. It was then sent to a number of people who had opted out of receiving marketing communications on the basis of the soft opt-in.

"The data team did not have time to properly consider the tone and nature of the communication that had changed from being an editorial communication to a marketing communication and that the marketing permission criteria should be applied," the ICO said, adding that the media group had "crossed the line" because the letter constituted political campaigning and was therefore not covered by the soft opt-in rule for commercial marketing communications.

The £30,000 fine is due to be paid by 15 January. The watchdog has offered a reduction of £6,000 if it is paid before then, an offer that will be withdrawn should the media group decide to appeal against the judgement.