Correction 15 February: This page previously said that complaints about direct marketing received by individuals will be considered 21 days after the first suppression request. This has since been corrected to make it clear that this should have read 28 days. Other notes have also been added at the bottom of this page for further explanation.
An important change to the Fundraising Preference Service will come into effect on 1 March 2019. From this date, charities will have 21 days to action a suppression request, instead of 28 days.
This change has been made so charities are less likely to miss the deadline to action the request. It will allow us to remind charities who haven’t responded to the request after 21 days to do so within the month, or risk breaching the law.
This change means that from 1 March:
- Any person that makes a request on the service will be told that charities have 21 days to action the request.
- Any person that makes a request will be able to make a ‘follow-up’ request after 21 days (previously 28 days) if they still receive direct marketing from the charity.
- We'll consider complaints about direct marketing received by individuals 28 days after the first suppression request was made.
Charities should prepare for this change now by considering how this will affect their internal processes. On 1 March all users accessing the FPS charity portal will be required to accept updated terms and conditions that reflect the change from 28 to 21 days.
If you have any questions please email fps@fundraisingregulator.org.uk
Notes
- ICO guidance states that charities must respond to requests from individuals to stop using their personal data for direct marketing without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receipt.
- The 21 day deadline for responding to FPS requests is one of the terms of for the service, instead of a data protection requirement. The deadline is designed to make sure we have enough time to remind charities who have not actioned the request within 21 days to do so within the month.
- If a charity ignores an FPS request or doesn’t action their request within the month, we may report them to the ICO.