UK: OFTEL Consults On Directories

The Director-General of Telecommunications has issued a consultative document on ‘The Provision of Directory Information Services and Products’. Industry groups meeting at the Advertising Association have registered their profound concerns about some of the proposals. One such proposal would extend to commercial activities the UK administrative law concept of ‘reasonable expectations’. It also proposes to apply to direct marketing the restrictive provisions of the EU telecoms directive (which is not yet adopted). The threat posed in the data protection section is of particular concern, as it raises the question of whether public domain data can be used for marketing purposes.