Update (14th June): The AA have been in touch (see comment) and they have agreed to remove me from all marketing.
Given the hassle of dealing with buses and public transport in this area, I am beginning to make some enquiries about learning to drive. So I went to what I had assumed was a reasonable and respectable firm: the AA. I filled in this form:
Notice there are no T&Cs or anything to say that you’re agreeing to an opt-in list. I even looked here – at the whole AA web site T&Cs and their privacy policy.
The closest I could find was this:
Before you provide any data to us we will endeavour to make it clear why we need it. Sometimes we may need sensitive personal data (examples may be past medical history or motoring convictions). When this is required we will obtain your consent first. Otherwise, by providing us with information, either orally or written, or by using our website, you consent to the collection, use and processing of this information by Saga and AA groups to provide and send you information about their services.
ALAS! They did not make it clear why you’d need my mobile phone number for the purposes of sending me SMS spams that I did not specifically consent to receiving. There was absolutely no part of the process of filling in that form that said they would do this, nor what they would do with my data.
And this brings me to:
I got a call back a bit later to my mobile phone from the AA (a bit unexpected in itself since it was supposed to be a mechanism for getting prices online.. without the need of manual intervention from an AA call operator) and we discussed my requirements. No, there were no local AA instructors qualified to teach automatic driving in the Guildford, but BSM did. Having discussed prices (in short: no difference between learning manual or automatic) I said that I had to think about it and that was that.
Until I got this bloody thing:
I now have to probably pay to opt-out?
Useless twits.