The OFT, which is empowered to step in if the public interest requires that advertisements should be stopped by means of a court order, took the action after receiving over 350 complaints about two mailings from businessman Steven Hester.
Hester, from Cheltenham, sent the mailings under the names 'Data Protection Registration Agency' and 'DPR Services'.
The OFT considered that they were misleading as they gave the impression that they were sent by an official government body and that the businesses receiving them were under an obligation to register with the sender at a cost of between £55 and £70. The mailings also failed to explain properly which persons were exempt from notification.
While UK law requires businesses processing personal data to notify the Information Commissioner (as opposed to registering), the fee is only £35. Also, many small businesses that process personal data for limited purposes are not required to notify – which Hester's notices failed to explain. Businesses can notify the Information Commissioner directly: they do not need to use an intermediary.
Mr Hester has since given written undertakings to the OFT that he will no longer issue misleading advertisements offering notification services under the Data Protection Act 1998.
"Any business receiving a letter demanding more than £35 to notify under the Data Protection Act should ignore it," advised John Vickers, OFT Chairman. "Anyone in doubt about their obligations to notify should contact the Information Commissioner."
Correspondence that is really from the Information Commissioner always bears his Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF address, said the OFT.