Seriously - Now there's Ads in the portal?

As per the title, just opened the portal to faced with a near full page ad.

I guess that's more important that the portal actually working as it's showing no data for almost 5hrs now

I'm also seeing the lagged data issue. I've pre-emptively set up tonight's charge routine in anticipation of the whole lot crashing again and having no access. Call me cynical but....

Not only that, but spamming me with the exact same ad via email... when I've never opted in or consented to marketing... is a breach of the GDPR.

Submitted the email and complaint to the regulator.

Anomnomnomaly I'm no expert but I think a company you've approached about services/products and/or done business with can send you promotional emails legitimately. Unless you opt out. However, I wouldn't expect ads in the portal!

Not really an ad in the portal just a notification of new scheme added to the portal.

sponev Like you said, you're no expert... marketing must be consented to and I've never given consent.

I saw that too. Something to do with "AXLE" buying my excess battery power. NO WAY!!
I can get guaranteed £0.15 per kWh back from Octopus.

Anomnomnomaly but more expert than you perhaps?
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/guide-to-pecr/electronic-and-telephone-marketing/electronic-mail-marketing/

Whilst I agree that the comms could have been better, a lot of us will be aware of the work National Grid ESO has been doing regarding DFS and its great that we now have access to a scheme similar to Telsa's virtual power plant. We can earn some cash from our investment, achieve that ROI a bit sooner and help to decarbonise the grid faster too. And no, I have no connection to Giv or Flex.

LOL!!

sponev

GDPR is very clear you must opt in, and opt in can not be assumed without specific evidence that you opted in for that purpose.

Enquiry for products/services or purchases do not allow then to advertise via email, post etc or use your details for any purposes other than those you have specifically opted in to.

Just to add… for the soft opt in to be valid, they have to give you an opt out choice specifically for marketing when you purchase.

I think they’d find it hard to prove as you have not made a purchase from them and they would need to have records to show you didn’t opt out. Then there are time limits.

That option isn’t one that exists everywhere either IIRC.

kram This is from the ICO - happy to be corrected but if the OP logged into the portal presumably he is a customer and so soft opt in applies? Most companies in the niche I'm in definitely do have records of who opted out and would have that configures automatically in their e-marketing lists - we certainly do. This is pretty standard to my knowledge.

What are the rules on electronic mail marketing?

The rules on electronic mail marketing are in regulation 22. In short, you must not send electronic mail marketing to individuals, unless:

• they have specifically consented to electronic mail from you; or
• they are an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) a similar product or service from you in the past, and you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sent.

Maybe he opted out and in that case he would be correct, but that's not what his general statement suggested. I'm in no way supporting unsolicited mail, just stating my understanding of the law. Happy to stand corrected.

sponev

If we assume somehow they have passed the test for you being an existing customer, they would then need to prove that when you made your purchase (let’s argue it was when you created your portal account) there was a marketing opt out and they must keep records of each customer who didn’t opt out and evidence the ask.

I don’t have a portal account, but were you asked?

Then you must be asked about marketing and other cookies on the portal and have the option to opt out at every opportunity ads might be shown or data collected.

Then they would need to do the same on emails.

Then they would need to show similarities of product/service.

This of course is without looking at wether data is sent outside of the EU or other GDPR compliant territories for processing and making sure people individually consented.

I am not saying they have not done this.

All I am saying is you. Any have presumed consent and if it has not been done and evidenced or if any part is missing , then there is nothing wrong with the filing of a complaint.

kram Sure, but modern systems for the vast majority of of companies have this pre-configured now. I run a couple of marketing companies which is why I have some working knowledge of this. What you can't do is pre-populate consent opt-ins and the like (although some still do) - however the soft opt-in laws are clear enough.

Must admit I hadn't seen the "ad" until I looked in recently.
Its hardly an issue in my view. Its a popup that appears once and goes away.

But there are no mentions about preferences in the account setting, which may be an issue from a GDPR perspective - you have to opt in to get reports but I can't see anything about notifications - but I'm no expert and wouldn't comment any further.