Annoying advertising calls at all hours, intrusive and repetitive... We have all suffered to a greater or lesser extent this new kind of commercial "harassment" against which it seems we are totally unprotected. As we already know, answering "don't call me anymore" doesn't usually work. Fortunately, there is something we can do to get rid of this: sign up for the Robinson List.
For those who don't know this service, we will say that it is a list in which any user can sign up to stop receiving unsolicited commercial calls. It sounds great, but does it really work?
What is the Robinson List?
As explained on the website itself, the Robinson list is a free ad exclusion service. It is a service framed within what is known as personalized advertising.
The processing of data for advertising purposes is recognized in Regulation (EU) 2016/679. It states that any advertising activity must be reconciled with respect for the right to personal data protection. A balance not always easy to achieve.
Those registered in the Robinson List will stop receiving advertising and unsolicited commercial calls. the hateful spam. All in compliance with Organic Law 3/2018 on the Protection of Personal Data and other laws related to telecommunications and electronic commerce. It is the law itself that says that users have the right not to receive automated calls.
The idea of the Robinson List was born in 1993, focused at that time on regulating the excesses of postal advertising. Currently, this service is managed in our country by the company adigital (Spanish Association of the Digital Economy)
Registration to the Robinson List is voluntary and free for private citizens (in the case of children under 14 years of age, this must be done by their parents or guardians), although companies must pay a fee to use their services.
Yes, companies also use the Robinson List to obtain a certification of compliance with the Service Regulations, supervised by the Spanish Agency for Data Protection. But that is another story.
Join the Robinson List
Registering or signing up for the Robinson List is a fairly simple process. All we have to do is access its official website (listrobinson.es) and on the same home screen, click on the button «Join the list». These are the steps to follow:
After pressing the button, two options will appear on the screen: write down our own number or that of another person. If we choose the option "target myself", we will jump to a new screen with a data form that we must fill in:
- DNI, NIF or NIE
- Name and surname.
- Birthdate.
- E-mail.
- Password.
After filling in all these fields plus the one for the security question, we check the box for acceptance of the terms of use and press the button "Sign up" which is displayed at the end. Once this process is complete, we will receive an email to activate our account. That's all. From then on, we'll be on the Robinson List and safe from the hassle of spam.*
To further refine the Robinson List service, we can configure the options within our own user profile: add a new number or email address, include or not advertising SMS, specify the commercial sectors from which we do not wish to receive advertising, etc.
(*) Although effective registration is almost immediate, in some cases it can take up to two months. For example, when our data is being used in an ongoing commercial campaign.
Is the Robinson List really effective?
At first, all companies have a legal obligation to consult the Robinson List Before starting any advertising campaign or action. If the recipient appears on said list and has not given their express consent to receive personalized advertising from said company, this company will not be able to send advertising.
However, there are many cases in which, even having signed up for the list, users continue to receive advertising. How could this happen? Does it mean that the registry is not working correctly or is useless?
When this happens, the explanation is clear: it was the company that made the mistake, skipping the step of consulting the Robinson List before proceeding to send advertising. In this way, if we are signed up to the list and we find that we continue to receive advertising messages from unauthorized companies, We have the possibility to denounce them.
Not everyone bothers to do this, they simply consider that it is not worth wasting time and energy to denounce (or that it will not do any good), but the truth is that there have already been many cases in which Advertisers who ignore the Robinson List have been forced to pay heavy fines. Some companies, such as Vodafone, know this well.