How to object to baby club direct marketing (ICO letter)

What does an ICO “right to object” do to a baby club?

The ICO’s right to object (updated 23 July 2026) lets you ask an organisation to stop using your personal information for advertising or marketing aimed at you — email, post or calls. For that purpose, they cannot refuse. The same page says this does not cover market research or routine customer-service messages.

It is not a delete-everything switch. The ICO says organisations are likely to put you on a suppression list so they can recognise you and not mail you again. If you want fields erased, that is a separate erasure request. See unsubscribe versus delete.

How do I send the objection?

The ICO says you can object verbally or in writing, to any part of the organisation. Their guidance is to follow a verbal request in writing so you have a record. There are no magic words. They publish a template; the block below is that template filled for a baby club.

1. 1
   Find the privacy contact Bounty: [email protected] or [email protected]; UK representative Bounty Media Limited, Kings Court, London Road, Stevenage, SG1 2NG. Emma’s Diary / Lifecycle Marketing: St Cloud Gate, St Cloud Way, Maidenhead, SL6 8XD. Your Baby Club UK: [email protected]. Boots Parenting Club: the customer-care address on their privacy notice.
2. 2
   Identify the file the way they built it Full name, email they write to, postal address, due date or child’s date of birth, and any membership or Advantage number. Week-by-week journeys are keyed on those dates.
3. 3
   Name the use you object to All direct marketing: email, SMS, app push, post, phone, and marketing to partners or “on behalf of” partners. List brands you ticked at signup if you can still see them.
4. 4
   Send it and diary the month ICO: they must deal with and respond within one calendar month. They can take up to two extra months for a complex request if they tell you why in the first month. The clock can wait if they ask for ID.
5. 5
   If they stay silent, complain First a data-protection complaint to the club (30 days to acknowledge). Then the ICO. For leftover emails, their spam-email page is the public route.

What should the baby-club letter say?

Copy this into an email or letter. Swap the brackets. It follows the ICO’s public template and adds the identifiers baby clubs actually store.

Right to object — direct marketing [Date] [Name of club] [Address or privacy email] Dear data protection team, [Your full name, email they write to, postal address, membership number if you have one. Due date or child’s date of birth on the account: DD Month YYYY. Partner brands named when I signed up, if known: …] I object, under data protection law, to any use of my personal information — and any information I gave you about my pregnancy or child — for direct marketing. That includes email, SMS, app notifications, post, telephone, and any marketing you send on behalf of partners or share with partners. Please suppress every address and number you hold for that purpose and confirm you have told any organisation you have already shared the file with. I am not asking you, in this letter, to delete every field you hold. If you need a minimal suppression record so you do not market to me again, say so in your reply and list what remains. Please send a full response within one calendar month confirming whether you comply. If you cannot respond in that time, tell me when you can respond. Yours sincerely [Name]

What if they keep mailing, or say they have deleted me?

• They must stop marketing. ICO: organisations cannot refuse an objection to direct marketing. GOV.UK says the opt-out must be easy and that they must tell you if they add you to a list of people who do not want to be emailed.
• They do not have to wipe the database. A reply that says “you are suppressed” matches ICO guidance. A reply that says “we have deleted everything” still needs you to ask what, if anything, remains.
• Partners need their own letter. Optional Bounty clubs and offer-claim brands are separate controllers on those firms’ own notices.
• Catalogues are a different register. Use BMPS for baby post. This letter does not screen a DMA file on its own.

In shortSend a written marketing objection that names the due date and the partners. Diary one calendar month. Expect suppression, not an empty file. Erasure is a second letter if you still want fields removed.