Consent flaws blight comms sector, call for regulators to act

Peter Dinham
Sunday, 23 August 2009 15:14

IT Policy - Regulation

As a result of the research, Asher said ACCAN was calling for legislation and codes of conduct to set out consistent requirements for consent across the entire industry.

Asher said the research project was conducted for ACCAN by independent consultancy Galexia, and the lead author of the report, Chris Connolly, said the research found that the “few consent requirements that exist in laws and codes are inconsistent and do not include coverage of key issues such as the capacity of the individual to provide consent (such as young people or people with an intellectual disability).”

“Another concern is that there is no requirement to record consent in the communications sector, and this has led to a lot of problems for consumers involved in disputes. Caseworkers interviewed in this project reported numerous cases where the consumer denies all knowledge of a service that appears on their bill.”

Connolly also said the research should contribute to an improved approach to informed consent in the communications sector, and Asher said that ACCAN would now press for the development of specialist guidance on “obtaining consent from these vulnerable groups.”