On November 12, 2020, Vodafone, the multinational
telecommunications company, was fined €12.25 million by
Garante, Italy's data protection authority. The fine is the
third largest ordered by the regulator. Garante's investigation
was prompted by hundreds of complaints of unwanted telephone calls
by Vodafone promoting its services. The investigation unveiled an
information storage system that had up to 4.5 million contact lists
purchased from external providers without user consent. The
violations were found to have affected Vodafone's entire
Italian customer base.
In response, Vodafone justified the unwanted communication on
"human error." Galante, however, did not accept that
excuse, reasoning that other aggravating factors, such as
significant neglect and reoccurring calls, were present. In
addition to the fine, Galante ordered Vodafone to overhaul its
telemarketing controls, adapt security measures for access to its
databases, and is prohibited from further
