Italy
- Garante per
la protezione dei dati personali- (Italian
Data Protection Authority)
Italy has enacted a tough anti-spam law that makes spamming
a criminal offence and is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. The
fight against spam, with respect to the protection of personal data, falls
within the competence of The
Italian Data Protection Authority ("the Authority") under the
terms laid down in the Personal Data Protection Code (legislative decree no.
196/2003 - Sections 121-132, in particular 130). The Authority, which is an
independent agency specifically created to ensure the protection of personal
data and to deal with spam problems, may receive complaints and/or reports from
alleged spam victims and impose administrative fines on offenders. It has the
power to carry out on-the-spot inspections, search premises and to seize records
and any other items considered to be relevant; it may block unlawful processing
operations and will refer information to the judicial authorities. The Authority
cooperates with national and international authorities in the fight against
spam; in particular, it is a member of the Contact Network of Spam Authorities
set up at EU level, and cooperates with Italy's Ministry of Communications in
implementing the relevant laws and regulations.
Competent
authority |
Garante
per la Protezione dei dati personali
Regime:
Opt- in |
Contact
person
|
E-mail: garante@garanteprivacy.it
Il garante per la protezione dei dati personali
Piazza di Monte Citorio n. 121 00186 ROMA
Fax: +39 06.69677.785
Tel: +39 06.69677.1
|
Relevant
legislation in place |
Laws:
- DL
196/2003 Personal
Data Protection Code - The Code transposed EC Directive 95/46 on
the protection of personal data and EC Directive 2002/58 on privacy in
electronic communications; it consolidated all Italian pre-existing
laws and regulations in this sector.
- DL
675/1996
on privacy protection states, inter alia, that a company must
have authorization from each user whose personal data (such as e-mail)
they want to use.
- DL
171/1998 (deriving
from the European Community directive 97/66/CE) on telecommunications
privacy protection: this put outlaws all automatic systems to call a
user and says that all the expenses of an advertising must be paid by
the company and not the user (faxes and e-mails are instead paid also
by the user)
- DL
185/1999
(deriving from the European Community directive 97/7/CE) on customer
protection in respect of long-distance contracts: this obliges
companies to seek the permission of the user for virtual or telephone
sales.
|
International
Cooperation |
- EU's
Contact Network of Spam Enforcement Authorities (CNSA)
- OECD's
Task Force on Spam
|
News
and information |
|
|