Data Privacy

colm_c

Not sure if this if the right place but here goes, moderators feel free to move...

I work for an IT company, and do pretty much all our internal networking, infrastructure stuff and we've got broadband an Irish ISP.

Yesterday I got a call from a market research company asking me to take part in some focus group or other, and when I asked who gave them my name and phone number, they said something along the lines of 'Your Broadband Supplier'... I simply declined their offer because I wasn't all that interested in a focus group...

So they rang me again today, same question, same woman on the phone, I told her you rang me yesterday, and she said 'I don't know, I just got this database fresh this morning'...

And I'm thinking... well if they gave my name to some outside consulting company without asking me (and I've checked the terms of the agreement), isn't that a violation of some kind of data privacy law or something? and they could infact be selling my details?

I rang my Broadband supplier, but the guy didn't really know what to do. Any ideas on what can be done to get me off their list?

EKRIUQ

Its common place for companies pass on information to market reasearch companies and they somtimes have it included in the terms and conditions of your contract. Not to sure about Ireland but in America if you inform the person ringing you that want to be taken off their list, they have to by law or else this can be seem to be a nuissance and a form of harrasment.

MrVestek

colm_c wrote:

I rang my Broadband supplier, but the guy didn't really know what to do. Any ideas on what can be done to get me off their list?

To be honest most of these eejits in call centres haven't got a clue what they're talking about at the best of times anyways. Right so, I'd be inclined to agree with Bingo. There might have been a box either online or on the sign up form that you have to tick or leave unticked as the case may be about passing on information to third parties.

Just another quick question, does your company have a website with a registered domain by any change? If so then said information about your company could have been done through a whois. If you leave all contact information there about the company, address, telephone number and admin's email address etc then that'll all show up in a whois.

Going on the assumption that it's the latter then going by Irish law that's illegal, although your admin made no effort to keep the information private. If on the otherhand the company is outside either the US or UK then laws on these kind of issues can be very sketchy.

colm_c

Achilles wrote:

Just another quick question, does your company have a website with a registered domain by any change? If so then said information about your company could have been done through a whois. If you leave all contact information there about the company, address, telephone number and admin's email address etc then that'll all show up in a whois.

Going on the assumption that it's the latter then going by Irish law that's illegal, although your admin made no effort to keep the information private. If on the otherhand the company is outside either the US or UK then laws on these kind of issues can be very sketchy.

The domain is registered to one of the directors and not to me, so that rules out the whois lookup...

I also have the form I used to sign up with for an account, and there is no tick box or condition anywhere about giving out my personal information to anyone...

I may try to get in contact with someone higher up the food chain in the bb supplier...