BT Breach the Data Protection Act

DUTR

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

Sorry, DUTR, perhaps I should have said that I will choose not to reply to your comments in future, rather than ignore them. I am sure I will continue to read them with great amusement.

That is good to know, although I am still curious as to why you 'hate' BT so much? It seems odd (to me) for an intelligent bod like yourself to appear to have an irrational dislike for a company.

Mark_In_Hampshire

To be fair, and based on what I read, he had a fraudulent order placed by BT staff they had to deal with, and as a result of that (oh, the irony) then noticed what appears to be a serious flaw with data protection.

Personally based on several experiences over the years, I'd have thought many have a reached a perfectly rational conclusion that it's best avoided, especially with those experiences, but "each to their own"

Irrespective of the subject matter, the personal attacks in this thread are not acceptable. Do behave. This isn't school.

Paul_Varjak

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

To be fair, and based on what I read, he had a fraudulent order placed by BT staff they had to deal with, and as a result of that (oh, the irony) then noticed what appears to be a serious flaw with data protection.

I think the flaws in Data Protection may be even worse than I have outlined here. I did prove a few years ago that it was possible to do a 'reverse search' on a BT number using Talk Talk's broadband speed checker to discover the Postcode for that number.

Given the recent problems with BT, I think it may be possible for someone to raise a fault report on a BT number number they don't own and then use BT's faults' web page to get fault order number and then use that order number and Post Code to discover the account holder's name, address, alternative contact number and e-mail address - using BT's order tracking web page.

If I could prove that theoretical possibility, using just websites made available for public use, that would be a very serious breach of Data Protection by BT indeed! I do know that BT fault report numbers have exactly the same format as BT order numbers (for service). I am just not sure if fault orders are trackable on BT's order tracking web page.

Mark_In_Hampshire

If you type a phone number into speed or availability checkers, such as samknows.com, you can get an estimate of how far that number is from the telephone exchange and which one it is. However that does not enable the postcode to be discovered and it's also fairly frequently wrong, not least because of the way numbers get reassigned to different addresses over time.

I haven't tried the Talk Talk one but I'm not certain how it can extract more information than the Wholesale database has to offer up.

Paul_Varjak

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

If you type a phone number into speed or availability checkers, such as samknows.com, you can get an estimate of how far that number is from the telephone exchange and which one it is. However that does not enable the postcode to be discovered and it's also fairly frequently wrong, not least because of the way numbers get reassigned to different addresses over time.

I haven't tried the Talk Talk one but I'm not certain how it can extract more information than the Wholesale database has to offer up.

I demonstrated how this works with the help of someone else on this forum who agreed to act as a 'guinea pig' He gave me his phone number and, within 2 hours, I told him his Post Code! All I used was the phone number, TalkTalk's broadband speed checker and a Post Code list from my Satnav!

MancLass

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

I demonstrated how this works with the help of someone else on this forum who agreed to act as a 'guinea pig' He gave me his phone number and, within 2 hours, I told him his Post Code! All I used was the phone number, TalkTalk's broadband speed checker and a Post Code list from my Satnav!

You looked him up in a phone book?

Paul_Varjak

I raised a complaint about these Data Protection issues on 12/01/2012 and received the following automated response...

Thanks for getting in touch. We just want you to know that we've got your e-mail. This is an auto response, so you don't need to reply.

Our aim is to get back to you in 24 hrs. But at busier times, it could take us up to 72 hrs. Either way, don't worry we'll be in touch. Your reference number is xxxxxx-xxxxxx.

Best wishes,
eCustomer Services Team


It is now 7 days sine the complaint was made, but no reply has been received. I have rung BT head office but they are totally uinaware of the eCustomer Services Team and have no contact number for them. No-one I have spoken to in Customer Services even recognises the format of the reference number above. E-mails to the eCustomer Services Team remain unaswered.

In other words, there is no way to contact the eCustomer Services Team once you have made made an on-line complaint, if they never contact you!

poppasmurf_bewdley

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

I raised a complaint about these Data Protection issues on 12/01/2012 and received the following automated response...

Thanks for getting in touch. We just want you to know that we've got your e-mail. This is an auto response, so you don't need to reply.

Our aim is to get back to you in 24 hrs. But at busier times, it could take us up to 72 hrs. Either way, don't worry we'll be in touch. Your reference number is xxxxxx-xxxxxx.

Best wishes,
eCustomer Services Team


It is now 7 days sine the complaint was made, but no reply has been received. I have rung BT head office but they are totally uinaware of the eCustomer Services Team and have no contact number for them. No-one I have spoken to in Customer Services even recognises the format of the reference number above. E-mails to the eCustomer Services Team remain unaswered.

In other words, there is no way to contact the eCustomer Services Team once you have made made an on-line complaint, if they never contact you!

Maybe they don't like you, just like you don't like BT.

Maybe they know you're not a customer so couldn't care less.

brewerdave

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Maybe they know you're not a customer so couldn't care less.

Suspect this is the reason :rotfl: