BBC iPlayer now requires your address.

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  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,159 Forumite
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    There's no issue for most people that those who need a Licence should have one, and I'm sure MSE would like all discussion to be framed that way.

    However, the BBC and its TV Licensing department have a long and broad history of questionable conduct, and I imagine that that is what Silverwhistle is referring to.

    The very basic questions are:-

    - Does a public authority need a specific authorisation before it establishes a law enforcement activity?

    - Should all law enforcement operations be accountable to Parliament?

    - Does policing within citizens' homes create significant practical and legal problems that if handled appropriately would be insurmountable?

    - Does a public authority have the right to deliberately mislead the Public (or at the very least communicate incompetently with them) when it comes to legal obligations, rights, duties and powers?

    And so on...

    It's a big, nasty can of worms and it needs sorting out.
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,674 Forumite
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    That's it, then: from today you need to sign-up for an account to use iplayer for radio stations.
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,159 Forumite
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    In addition to the options above, you can also still use the BBC podcast service without an ID.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,674 Forumite
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    Not sure whether this has already been stated, but signing up to use radio iplayer does get your info shared with TVL
    We share some of your personal data with TV Licensing, to check if you are using BBC iPlayer and to keep their database up to date.
  • Gvannac
    Gvannac Posts: 1 Newbie
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    So furious, I have a TV licence, why do I have to provide lots of personal details like my date of birth etc to register to use/log in?
    Why don't they just ask for my licence number?
    Would making a complaint make a difference, surely there is some data protection rule says I should be able to access without providing this info!
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,159 Forumite
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    Gvannac wrote: »
    So furious, I have a TV licence, why do I have to provide lots of personal details like my date of birth etc to register to use/log in?
    You don't have to provide YOUR info - you have to provide SOME info.
    Why don't they just ask for my licence number?
    Because they (the BBC) do not want to do that for political reasons. My guess is that they do not want to adopt a near-subscription model for iPlayer without there having been some kind of public debate about it first.
    Would making a complaint make a difference, surely there is some data protection rule says I should be able to access without providing this info!
    There is no automatic right to use iPlayer. You could investigate what the BBC is doing with your data and compare that with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. If there were any discrepancies then you could use them as the basis for a complaint to the ICO.
  • anotheruser
    anotheruser Posts: 3,485 Forumite
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    Cornucopia wrote: »
    You don't have to provide YOUR info - you have to provide SOME info.
    This.

    And this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/14/bbc-admits-cannot-stop-iplayer-users-faking-details-evade-licence/
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,159 Forumite
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    edited 4 September 2017 at 1:10PM
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    anotheruser wrote: »
    This.

    And this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/14/bbc-admits-cannot-stop-iplayer-users-faking-details-evade-licence/

    As usual with matters concerning the TV Licence, the truth is something of a scarce commodity.

    The truth is that the BBC's approach never could robustly ensure that people would register with correct details (because it does not verify them) and it never sought to robustly match those details against its TV Licence database (because it does not have a proper common data item). That is what the BBC implemented, and it was their choice (and theirs alone) to go down that road. Perhaps they should have consulted someone who knew what they were doing, or perhaps they did that, and then ignored the advice because entering a Licence number to view iPlayer was deemed politically unacceptable.

    Who knows what their agenda is, in now pleading "poverty of invention" around the solution they designed and implemented? Perhaps they are going to lobby Government for more powers or an alternative funding methodology? Sad to see such an august institution succumb to lazy, ill-disciplined thinking.
  • Robisere
    Robisere Posts: 3,237 Forumite
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    Many are forgetting something about the BBC: it is respected around the world by people whose nations do not have anything like it. A Public, publicly-financed broadcaster which shows programmes without annoying ads and Sponsors. The fact is, that it is being attacked on all sides in its own country, by the government, the media and the sneering, chattering classes. And it continues to produce a lot of superior broadcasting on radio and TV, much of which is sold or licensed abroad, to help it with financing programme content. Content which has to cover many, many tastes and ages. Some small parts of it I detest, but I am happy for those who like that, it's what they want and they are as entitled to their choice as I am.

    I am quite happy to continue paying a licence fee and I don't mind that the Beeb wants my details. How many times do we give those same details to commercial outlets, in order to make a purchase? If it now applies to iPlayer, good. I use it a lot and am content to think it is now covered by the licence. No one has a gun held to their head and is forced to watch it. It's just telly, get over it!
    I think this job really needs
    a much bigger hammer.
  • silverwhistle
    silverwhistle Posts: 3,791 Forumite
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    Robisere wrote: »
    the media and the sneering, chattering classes.

    If you'd said right-wing media I'd have agreed with you, but not with the "chattering classes". The impression I get is that it's the right wing, often working class, who moan about paying for anything they don't use, and haven't made the connection to the wider good that paying for anything collectively involves.

    Still, I haven't had a TV for nigh on 30 years, never had a colour one, and I don't have a licence. :D
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