The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has formally warned online retailer Groupon Australia Pty Ltd after determining that they had sent daily email newsletters to people without their consent.
Consumers complained that the unsubcription service offered by Groupon only ubsubscribed them from one of several Groupon daily newsletters, and that they continued to receive other newsletters from Groupon after using the unsubscribe function.
The ACMA found that information provided by Groupon made it unclear what individuals were unsubscribing from. The ACMA considered that it was reasonable for individuals to expect they would be unsubscribed from all newsletters unless they were advised otherwise.
The ACMA also found that some unsubscribe requests made to Groupon were not actioned within the five business days required by the Spam Act.
Groupon has responded by making the wording clearer on its website and in emails about unsubscribing from its newsletters. It has also implemented an account management system so that individuals can choose which email newsletters they wish to receive.
You can read more about the ACMA’s warning to Groupon here.