Firch International Company Limited Ta Pesa Pay
Complaint upheld; enforcement notice issued. ODPC, 12 June 2023.
The facts
Twenty-three complainants lodged complaints between 15 and 28 March 2023 against Firch International Company Limited, trading as Pesa Pay, a digital lender. On diverse dates in March 2023 the respondent was accused of irregularly accessing the complainants' mobile phone books, sending unwarranted text messages, demanding payment for loans not borrowed or already settled, contacting third parties to pay loans they had not guaranteed, and enlisting people as guarantors without any mechanism to consent. The Office found the respondent collected the complainants' contacts from its clients and third parties rather than directly, did not inform them of the collection or its purpose, and refused a request to remove a complainant's number from the face of the Pesa Pay application. The respondent also obstructed the Data Commissioner by declining physical service of the Notification of Complaints on 29 March 2023, forcing service by email.
Orders and outcome
The Office concluded the respondent violated the data subjects' rights, failed to collect personal data directly from the data subjects, and obstructed the Data Commissioner in the exercise of her powers.
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