ICO considers complaints over how Watt contacted former crowdfunding investors
The Information Commissioner’s Office has been asked to investigate complaints from several former “equity punk” shareholders who received unsolicited emails from James Watt, the founder of BrewDog, the Guardian reported. The watchdog said it does not comment on individual cases but considers all complaints in line with its standard process.
The emails, sent on Sunday, invited recipients to join Watt’s bid to regain control of the brewery through a new venture called Second Best. Recipients were offered the “exact same stake in Second Best that you once held in BrewDog, for free,” according to the Guardian. Several who received the email said they did not understand how Watt had obtained their contact details, raising concerns about a potential breach of the General Data Protection Regulation, the Guardian reported.
Watt sold BrewDog’s brand, intellectual property, UK breweries and 11 bars to the US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray in March for £33 million, a deal that rendered the shares of more than 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless, according to the Guardian. On Wednesday, Watt announced his plan to regain control with support from 43,000 of those investors.
Watt denied any wrongdoing. “A communication was sent to my fellow shareholders in BrewDog following legal advice, using lawfully obtained data, and in connection with their legitimate interests as shareholders,” he said, according to the Guardian. He did not explain how the contact details were obtained.
Marc Knox, a former equity punk, told the Guardian he wrote to Second Best about his concerns and was prepared to take a complaint to the ICO, although he had not yet done so. “I got the email last Sunday and I kind of laughed. I wasn’t thinking about complaining but I talked to a friend, looked online and saw there were lots of people saying the same thing: ‘How has this joker got my details?’” Knox said.
Ravi Naik, legal director at the data protection specialist AWO, said the case raised significant questions even if a breach had not clearly taken place, according to the Guardian. “I can understand why the individuals have complained to the ICO,” Naik said. “There seem to be questions to answer and the ICO should explain if they plan to take action on these complaints. Key questions are how the people who received the email were selected and whether the email campaign was compliant with the law.”
A spokesperson for Tilray said the company “did not acquire Equity for Punks shareholder data as part of its acquisition of the BrewDog brand and assets; that records system remains under the control of BrewDog plc (in administration),” according to the Guardian. The spokesperson added that Tilray “did not authorise, facilitate, or participate in the communications reportedly sent to former Equity for Punks investors and did not authorise the use of any acquired data for such purposes.”
“We take data privacy with the utmost seriousness and can categorically confirm that no data held by Tilray Brands has been shared with external entities or former directors,” the spokesperson said, according to the Guardian. “All communications with our customer base are conducted in strict compliance with GDPR.”