Italy's data protection authority, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, has fined telecoms operator Wind Tre EUR 16,700,000 for unlawful telemarketing activity and associated breaches of data protection rules, according to a notice published via the European Data Protection Board.
The case concerns practices in how Wind Tre, or parties acting on its behalf, contacted individuals for marketing purposes. Such enforcement actions typically examine whether valid consent was obtained before calls or messages were sent, and whether complaints and opt-out requests were properly handled.
This action falls under the General Data Protection Regulation rather than the EU AI Act, but it is a reminder that national data protection authorities continue to pursue large fines against organisations running high-volume outbound marketing operations, including those that rely on automated dialling or data-driven targeting.
Organisations using AI-enabled tools to profile customers, score leads, or automate outreach should note that such systems often process personal data at scale, which keeps them squarely within the remit of data protection supervisors even where the EU AI Act's own obligations do not yet apply.
As a compliance matter, firms building or deploying AI-assisted marketing or customer-contact systems should ensure that any underlying personal data processing has a lawful basis, that consent records are auditable, and that third-party vendors or call centres acting on their behalf are contractually bound to equivalent standards.
Veritome will continue to track enforcement actions by national authorities where they intersect with automated decision-making, profiling, or AI-assisted processing relevant to organisations preparing for AI Act compliance alongside their existing data protection obligations.