§ Lord Jacobsasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether senders of unsolicited sales or polling faxes are required to display their names, addresses 135WA and telephone numbers; and whether the recipients of such faxes have any power to prevent further faxes being sent to them. [HL6354]
§ Lord Sainsbury of Turville:Under the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999, the sending of direct marketing faxes to individual subscribers is banned unless the subscribers have given their prior consent. The regulations also set up a central opt-out list, called the Fax Preference Service (FPS), primarily for corporate subscribers but individuals may also register as an additional protection. Direct marketers are obliged to ensure that they do not send direct marketing faxes to numbers appearing on the FPS list unless they have prior consent to do so.
The regulations also require that all direct marketing faxes that are sent must include the sender's name and either their address or a freephone telephone number through which they can be contacted.
Further details, including how to register with the FPS and how to complain about apparent breaches of the regulations, are available on the DTI website at the following URL: http://www.dti.gov.uk/cii/regulatory/telecomms/telecommsregulations/explan.shtml.