New dispositions concerning the registration and functioning of the Opposition Registry

The D.P.R 149/2018 became effective on 3rd February 2019, “Regulation amending Presidential Decree 178 of 7th September 2010, concerning the Opposition Registry, regarding the use of paper mail”.

The Legislator examined the Opposition Register with the enactment of Law no. 5 dated 11 January 2018, “New provisions on the registration and operation of the Opposition Registry and the creation of national prefixes for telephone calls for statistical, promotional and market research purposes”.

The D.P.R. just entered into force is extended to commercial communications made by paper mail. Therefore, in accordance with the new Article 2, paragraph 2, the regulation is applied “only to the numbers and corresponding postal addresses included in the lists of contractors mentioned in Article 129 of the Code”.

Each party (“any natural person, legal person, entity or association involved in a contract with a provider of telephone services accessible for the supply of services, or recipient of such services also through prepaid cards, of which the numbering is included in the lists referred to in Article 129 of the Code”) may request to the administrator of the public registry the registration in the lists as established in the Article 2, paragraph 2 of his/her number or the corresponding postal address, the contracting parties can oppose to the treatment of the same numbering and other personal data as in art. 129, paragraph 1 of the Code, by telephone or paper mail, for the sending advertising material or direct sales, or for market research or commercial communications. For this reason, all operators must verify that the numbering and/or the corresponding postal address is/are not registered in the opposition registry before treating it for marketing purposes by electronic or paper communication. The period of validity of this verification is 15 days, after which the operator must perform the verification again. On the other hand, the legislation does not preclude the treatment by individuals who have collected, or collect, data from other sources than the lists referred in art. 129 of the Code. Moreover, the registration in the Opposition Registry invalidates only the explicit consent given before the registration.

The addition to paper mail also involves changes in information requirements, in fact, the operator, in advertising materials or direct selling or for market research or commercial communications sent by paper, must clearly indicate to the interested parties that their data were extracted from the lists of contractors and he must provide the information needed for registration in the Oppositions Registry

The D.P.R. just entered into force is part of the reform of the Opposition Registry, which will include, once approved, also the Regulation that will allow the extension of this service to all reserved numbers, including mobile phones.