Las unwanted phone callspopularly known as continue to be one of the main annoyances for consumers. Despite the prohibitions established by the , many users continue to receive non-consensual commercial calls.
A study carried out in 2024 on more than 4,000 consumers has revealed that 98.3% of Spaniards claim to continue receiving advertising calls one year after the entry into force of the rule that prohibits them.
Faced with this situation, both national and European legislation recognize the right to privacy already protection of personal data. In some countries, such as Greece, the so-called ‘Record 11’a legal tool that seeks to protect subscribers from unsolicited commercial calls and imposes penalties on offending companies.
In Spain, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 recently proposed strengthen consumer protection through two amendments to the , currently being processed in parliament.
What is ‘Register 11’?
‘Register 11’ arises from article 11 of the which regulates unsolicited communications, establishing that no type of call, fax or email for commercial purposes can be made without the user’s prior consent. For calls with human intervention, the provider must respect the will of the subscriber if he expresses his desire not to receive communications of this type.
Additionally, providers are legally required to adopt preventive measures to avoid the issuance of non-consensual communications. If they fail to comply with this obligation, consumers can claim compensation for material and moral damagesas stated in article 14 of the same law.
This requires electronic communications service providers to maintain a updated subscriber list who do not want to receive calls for advertising or direct sales purposes. The inclusion process is simple: users can register electronically, by phone or at a branch from your supplier, following the instructions of each company.
The most significant thing about ‘Register 11’ is that, if a registered user continues receiving unwanted calls, the law recognizes their right to a minimum financial compensation of 10,000 euros for moral damagesin addition to a full compensation for material damages suffered.
The objective of this registry is to allow citizens to exercise a real control over your personal data y avoid advertising harassment telephone. However, this protection does not extend to calls made from abroad or by companies that appear to operate outside the country, a legal loophole that many companies take advantage of.
Spain toughens measures against telephone spam
In Spain, an equivalent to ‘Registry 11’ could be the , a totally free service which prevents you from receiving advertising over the phone. To do this, “you just have to register and indicate by what means you do not want to receive advertising: telephone, postal mail, email or SMS/MMS”, .
Furthermore, Law 11/2022, General Telecommunications, recognizes from June 2023 the right of consumers not to receive commercial calls without their prior consent. However, it shows that the norm is not met, since 98% of users claim to continue receiving calls and only 2.1% have reported to the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).
Given this widespread non-compliance, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has promoted two amendments to the SAC Law to strengthen user protection. The first will force companies to Identify all business calls with a specific telephone prefixdifferent from that used for customer service. Operators must automatically block calls that do not use these codes.
The second amendment proposes that contracts closed during non-consensual calls be declared voidthus eliminating the economic incentive that leads many companies to maintain these illegal practices. Companies will also be required to renew users’ consent every two years to continue contacting themthus preventing them from hiding behind old or ambiguous permissions.
The right to report and how to do it
Despite the legal tools available, the majority of citizens do not know how to exercise their rights. The Facua survey reveals that only 9.9% of consumers know how to report unwanted calls, and less than one in twenty have actually done it.
The AEPD is in charge of sanctioning offending companies, and in telecommunications matters, there are various competent bodies to deal with complaints. It is essential “contact the competent bodyas well as contributing to this maximum possible documentation” so that the claim can be processed properly.
Among the organizations that can be contacted are the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructuresthrough the Telecommunications User Service Office; the consumer organizationsthrough the arbitration system; and SELF CONTROLwhich offers a free mediation procedure. In the latter case, you can contact the Mediation Unit at 91 309 66 37 or at mediacion@autocontrol.es.
When the AEPD is competent, the claim procedure requires providing specific documentation according to the type of incident: irregular or fraudulent contracting of telecommunications services, debts derived from telecommunications services or improper inclusion in subscriber directories. In all cases, “the processing of The claim will be more agile in cases in which more evidence or indications are provided.“.
