The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is cracking down on daily deal provider Groupon for sending out multiple emails to people without their permission. Customers that received the newsletters discovered that they were unable to unsubscribe from the e-blast service when trying to get Groupon’s message out of their inbox.
After receiving multiple complaints from customers who continuously received the newsletter, the ACMA issued a formal warning to the daily deal site. Customers explained that even after unsubscribing from Groupon’s newsletter they were still receiving e-mails from the site.
“The ACMA considered information provided by Groupon left it unclear what individuals were unsubscribing from. In the ACMA’s view, it was reasonable for individuals to expect they would be unsubscribed from all newsletters unless they were advised otherwise,” the ACMA explained in a statement.
Groupon was also a directly violating the Spam Act by not taking action on unsubscribed requests within five business days, the ACMA found.
Since the warning, Groupon has reworded their un-subscription process, making it clearer for customers. In addition, it has added a new account management feature to the site, allowing users to choose which newsletters they would like to subscribe to.
Source: LifeHacker
