An inquiry has been launched by the Information Commissioner Office (ICO) into Swedish fintech company Klarna for sending out a marketing email to customers who had never used the service.
The data protection watchdog confirmed to Cosmetics Business that multiple members of the public had reported the email sent out by Klarna.
Many consumers took to Twitter to question why the company’s weekly email newsletter had landed in their inbox.
Oh hi @Klarna how did you get the details of people who are not and have never been a customer? pic.twitter.com/7APtZeaxWl
— Robyn Vinter (@RobynVinter) October 12, 2020
...did everyone just get an email from Klarna even if they never knowingly agreed to receiving marketing materials?
— Sarah Manavis (@sarahmanavis) October 12, 2020
A number of beauty brands and retailers, including Charlotte Tilbury, The Perfume Shop and Feelunique, have adopted Klarna’s buy now pay later service.
Klarna is said to have corrected the marketing blunder with a follow up email stating the prior had been sent in error.
In response, Sebastian Siemiatkowski’s company released a statement titled Unexpected Newsletter, claiming the email had been sent out in ‘human error’.
“We are aware that on 12 October some people received our weekly newsletter by mistake,” it wrote.
“This was a human error and the email was incorrectly sent for which we are extremely sorry.”
Klarna also explained that the email had been sent to Klarna customers who had recently used one of the company’s products or services, including its checkout technology, which it said is included in its terms and conditions.
It also said an investigation had been launched into the mistake and that it takes these matters “extremely seriously”.
Cosmetics Business has contacted Klarna for further comment.