Frequently asked questions: Telephone Preference Service
 What
is the TPS?
 The Telephone
Preference Service (TPS) is a list for people to register their number,
in order to stop receiving cold call sales contacts and marketing
calls. Anyone undertaking this kind of activity has to purchase the
TPS list and screen out all TPS numbers against their target list.
Market research is not this kind of activity and therefore there is
no requirement to screen research samples against the TPS. However,
if part of your project also includes the collection of personal details
to pass on to your client (with permission from the respondent of
course) for marketing or sales purposes then you would need to screen
against the TPS.
I
have heard that companies are now included on the TPS listing, what
are the new requirements?
As with the
original TPS list, market research is exempted from having to screen
against the Corporate TPS. If a research project includes any kind
of marketing or sales element, either during it, or as a consequence
of the contact, and you are contacting businesses (or individuals)
then your organisation would need to purchase the TPS list and screen
all sample against it.
Is
there a charge for screening against the TPS list?
There is a
charge for using the TPS lists, details of which can be found on the
TPS website (www.tps-online.org.uk).
What
is the new definition of personal data?
It has been
concluded by the Court of Appeal that it is 'information that affects
[a person's] privacy, whether in his personal or family life, business
or professional capacity'. It is more than likely that an individual's
name will be personal data where it appears together with other information
such as address, telephone number or information regarding hobbies
or preferences.
I
have heard that it is not necessary to provide personal data that we
hold on an individual, on receipt of a data subject access request,
if the information is held manually. Is this true?
Not exactly.
The test is that if you can access the manual files in the same way
you could if they were electronically stored then you are obliged
to supply them ie the searcher can go straight to the intended file
because they are indexed or sub-divided in an easily accessible format.
If not and they are more randomly filed then you are not obliged to
supply the manual data. However, be careful with this current interpretation
of the UK Data Protection Act 1998. The matter is currently being
reviewed by the European Commission and may be subject to revision.
It should also be noted that you would still have to supply all electronically
held personal data.
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