CommSec pays $55k after breaching Spam Act

CommSec, the Commonwealth Bank's stock trading arm, has agreed to pay a $55,000 to The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) after breaching the Spam Act during 2009.

According to ACMA, CommSec customers complained that they had continued to receive commercial messages despite having withdrawn their consent. The watchdog "also identified that email campaigns conducted by CommSec in January, February and March 2009 did not provide an option to unsubscribe", which is required under the Spam Act.

"Under the Spam Act, every person has the right to unsubscribe from receiving commercial electronic messages and to have that request acted on effectively and quickly. The failure to act on a request can result in significant penalties if a business is found to have breached the Act," said ACMA chairman Chris Chapman in a statement.

The undertaking (available here in pdf format) between the organisations revealed that CommSec sent almost seven million emails in the past 12 months, which resulted in three complaints to ACMA.

ACMA has ended its investigation after it found CommSec to be cooperative and proactive in dealing with the matter. CommSec has also agreed to provide additional training to key staff and relevant contractors who work on these systems and provide a quarterly audit and report on its progress.

Neither ACMA or CommBank were available for comment.