Dormeo Home SRL, a Romanian mattress and home furnishings retailer, has been issued a €2,000 fine by the National Authority for the Supervision of Personal Data Processing (ANSPDCP) for violating European data protection regulations through persistent direct marketing contact.
The enforcement action stemmed from an investigation that revealed the company continued sending marketing SMS messages and making promotional phone calls to a consumer who had explicitly exercised their right to object to such communications. The violation represents a clear breach of GDPR requirements governing direct marketing and the lawful processing of personal data.
Investigation Findings
According to the ANSPDCP’s investigation, the core issue centered on the company’s failure to respect consumer preferences despite clear notification. “In the investigation, it was found that although the data subject exercised the right of opposition, the operator did not take measures to effectively respect it regarding telephone and SMS contact for direct marketing,” the authority stated.
This finding underscores a common compliance challenge facing European businesses: ensuring that technical and operational systems reliably honor opt-out requests across all marketing channels. The right to object is a fundamental principle of the General Data Protection Regulation, allowing individuals to withdraw consent or oppose data processing for direct marketing purposes.
GDPR Compliance Implications
The penalty, while relatively modest in scale, reinforces regulatory expectations around marketing practices across the European Union. Companies handling consumer data for promotional purposes must maintain updated suppression lists and verify that discontinuation requests are promptly implemented across all communication channels—including SMS, email, and telephone outreach.
Dormeo Home SRL’s case illustrates the enforcement scrutiny that national data protection authorities are applying to marketing operations. Even without evidence of widespread violations affecting multiple consumers, maintaining objection records and implementing consistent suppression procedures remains mandatory under GDPR Article 21, which governs the right to object to direct marketing.
Broader Regulatory Context
Romania’s ANSPDCP has been progressively active in investigating marketing and data processing violations as part of wider efforts across the European Union to strengthen data protection enforcement. Similar fines have been issued by authorities in other member states for comparable infractions involving unsolicited marketing communications.
The incident serves as a reminder that European companies operating across sectors—from e-commerce to consumer goods—must prioritize compliance infrastructure that systematically tracks and honors consumer objections. Organizations that fail to implement adequate technical and organizational measures to support data subject rights increasingly face regulatory penalties, regardless of company size or market position.
For European startups and established businesses alike, the case reinforces the necessity of maintaining robust data governance frameworks that treat consumer opt-out requests as binding operational requirements rather than administrative formalities.