vodafone violating the data protection act?

Sam Vimes · 19-11-2006 8:16pm #1

whenever i phone vodafone, either from my mobile or a landline, it asks me to enter my number and when i get through to a customer care agent they always say:

welcome to vodafone, how can i help you mr vimes? (obviously not my real name)

it doesn't ask for a date of birth or anything else, so i could type in a random number and get the name of the person who owns that number. that is a violation of the data protection act right?

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 19-11-2006 8:23pm

You could probably also argue that the phone book and directory enquiry services also break the same laws.

Sam Vimes · 19-11-2006 8:33pm

sean_keevey wrote:

You could probably also argue that the phone book and directory enquiry services also break the same laws.

i suppose you could but i can have my number ex-directory if i want. vodafone don't seem to give that option.

just remembered that i phoned them off another number before that used to be on vodafone but was ported to meteor. they still addressed me by name. should they even still have the details if i'm not a customer of theirs anymore?

Sizzler · 19-11-2006 9:02pm

The only way to put this to the test is to enter a random number and then ask for details about the account and see how far you get ...

Sam Vimes · 19-11-2006 9:57pm

Sizzler wrote:

The only way to put this to the test is to enter a random number and then ask for details about the account and see how far you get ...

well they won't give you any details beyond that of course but they shouldn't be giving that in the first place

Rsaeire · 19-11-2006 9:58pm

Vodafone have a habit of breaching the data protection act. It's common knowledge that their employees abuse access to their customer’s accounts, so I wouldn't be surprised if they had a complete disregard for this to.

Vodafone have this belief that their policies, t&c's etc supercede that of the law.

krpc · 20-11-2006 1:38pm

Totally! I knew a Vodafone employee who accessed account's of her friends to find out information on them (i.e. who they were calling etc .,.). It resulted in her finding out that her boyfriend was cheating. Just goes to show, very little security features protecting customer accounts in Vodafone and ultimately leading to a breach in the data protection act amongst other privacy laws. I know for other networks, each time you enter an account for ANY reason, the system requires a note is left on the account as to why the person accessed it. Vodafone, typical. Pft.

vodafone violating the data protection act?

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