help me to stop a company calling me

[Losttheequipment]

It’s an employment agency I did 2 months work through about 5 years ago. They won’t stop calling me to offer work and fish for staffing information about the place I currently work. I’ve told them verbally several times not to call me because I am not looking for work and have nothing to do with hiring in my current role. Because they continued to call, I emailed the DPO about 2 months ago and said that I wanted to make a formal request under GDPR for them to stop using my personal data to contact me. This person replied quickly and said that they would archive my file and the calls would stop. Which they did, for about a month, although I did get an email in that period.

Now the calls are back, two in the last 2 weeks, and an email yesterday. I have forwarded the email on to the DPO and told them about the calls. No response yet, and I realise they have 30 days.

But did I maybe get the wording wrong when I contacted them the first time? Do I have to specifically mention article 21? I’d be really grateful for any help with the correct thing to say to make them stop. I’m sick of it.

(I have the numbers blocked on my mobile, but they use different ones to get around that and call my landline.)

Just ring the staff agency branch and ask to speak to the person who emailed you yesterday.

Then explain to them that you would like to be permanently removed from their database, and you don't wish to be contacted any more.

They won’t be able to permanently delete me for regulatory reasons. And I’ve already told that person multiple times that I don’t want to be contacted anymore.

As you've requested they stop calling could you not approached ICO, as they are using your data in a way you have told them not to?

It's exactly for Regulatory reasons (GDPR) that they must remove your details if you request it. Also they shouldn't be keeping your data indefinitely. Give them one more chance to rectify the situation and explain if you are contacted again you will report them to the Information Commissioners Office. This company should be registered with the ICO as they are processors of personal data.

There are exceptions to permanently removing personal data under GDPR. You’re going to have to trust me that they can’t . They can archive it though, but don’t seem to able/ willing to do so.

Is it a health and social care type recruitment team by any chance as I had similar and found rather than talking to the call handlers/case managers, I had to have a very stern word with the compliance team and emailed them as well. Once I spoke to compliance they archived my file and haven't heard from them since. I found that the call handlers didn't know how to archive the accounts or weren't able to and would just make a note for themselves but not somewhere all there team could see it or they just got a reminder to chase me for something or that I had skills that were required for a shift so would just ring and forget I had asked to be taken off their books as they have so many on them. It might be worth trying to find an email for up the ranks or if there is a gdpr liaison.

Yes, it’s that sort of thing @singlemummanurse. They are like a dog with a bone. I have contacted their Data Protection Officer directly, but even that hasn’t stopped them.

I think I can report them to the ICO @BeautifulBirds but the ICO website says they don’t respond to individual concerns. I think they act on a corporate or organisational level if there are concerns/reports about their data processing, but they are not going to contact the agency and tell them specifically to stop harassing me. At least that’s how it reads to me.

I’ll report them, but I don’t think that necessarily going to solve my problem, at least in the short term. It’s not such a big issue in the scheme of things I guess, but I’m heartedly sick of having to say no again and again, or dodge the phone. Ho hum.

Block their number and email address?

Maybe put the wind up them and ask to speak to their data processing officer. 😁. Or block them, but these companies have so many different numbers, it's hard to.

I keep blocking the numbers on my mobile, they keep using different ones. I don’t think I have the facility to block numbers on my landline. And I’ve already spoken to their Data Protection Officer. If you’ve never had dealings with these people it’s probably difficult to understand just how persistent they are.

Name and shame on here and Twitter!

Perhaps, play their game?
Keep calling them asking for jobs ( or just show interest when they call you), let them set up interviews then say that you've changed your mind.
They should eventually note your file as flaky/ unreliable.

Maybe it's a bit like you can't get your medical or dental records deleted but they can be archived when I was in dental practice we changed surname from Jones to *Jones to archive we used a different symbol for deceased patients
so it is perfectly possible to remove records from general search without deleting them completely