Two leading consumer groups have filed suits against Italy's biggest telephone group, Telecom Italia, for violating privacy and competition laws. In complaints filed in Rome and Milan, Adusbef and Federconsumatori said Telecom Italia had violated privacy laws by keeping call and service records of its ex-clients, who had switched to other operators, and used them to draw up consumer profiles which could then be used to try and win back the clients.
In their suits, the consumer groups also criticised the authority regulating communications which they said "had the duty to prevent such misconduct by the ex-monopoly". The accusations against Telecom Italia were given full-page coverage by the Rome daily La Repubblica on
Thursday and Telecom Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera responded by announcing that his company's attorneys were preparing to take legal action.
Telecom Italia has always maintained that its profiles were drawn up using public knowledge, such as phone books, and not privileged information.
Magistrates began looking into Telecom's marketing practices after several of its former clients had complained that they had been contacted by Telecom which had offerred services and rates which had exactly and suspiciously matched their consumer habits.
A 48-page report by investigating magistrates was presented earlier this month which called on Telecom Italia to immediately cease its marketing campaign and said it was subject to fines for keeping unjustified profiles on its ex-clients.
It also recalled that Telecom Italia should have destroyed all records of its former clients as soon as they had changed operators.
Telecom Italia has already filed an appeal against the order to suspend its marketing campaign.
