Missing parcels and DPA

A_Geordie

born_again said:

A_Geordie said:may have the inclination to try and use someone's identity to their advantage. 

To be fair here. Not a lot that can be done with a simple name & address, they need far more than that to commit ID fraud.

True, but as I have said in an earlier post, it doesn't take much effort to find out more information about that individual. Many people on social media display their date of birth, telephone number, where they work so before you know it the information they now know about that person has grown significantly in a short space of time to build a bigger picture for identity fraud purposes.

As an example, that person could, with sufficient information gathered, use Royal Mail's mail re-direction service and divert the OP's mail to a new address.

We don't know who the person is who stole the parcel so it would be naive to think that this is just a one off and nothing to be concerned about. Obviously everyone's level of concern will vary. 

TheSpectator

A_Geordie said:

born_again said:

A_Geordie said:may have the inclination to try and use someone's identity to their advantage. 

To be fair here. Not a lot that can be done with a simple name & address, they need far more than that to commit ID fraud.

True, but as I have said in an earlier post, it doesn't take much effort to find out more information about that individual. Many people on social media display their date of birth, telephone number, where they work so before you know it the information they now know about that person has grown significantly in a short space of time to build a bigger picture for identity fraud purposes.

As an example, that person could, with sufficient information gathered, use Royal Mail's mail re-direction service and divert the OP's mail to a new address.

We don't know who the person is who stole the parcel so it would be naive to think that this is just a one off and nothing to be concerned about. Obviously everyone's level of concern will vary. 

You do realise that the electoral register ,that anyone can view, contains names and addresses so it's hardly difficult to obtain that information.

And no, it's not as easy as you state to do a mail redirection. Royal Mail send a letter to both the old and new address to avoid such things.

And anyone with an ounce of sense puts their social media to private.

oldagetraveller1

"You do realise that the electoral register ,that anyone can view, contains names and addresses so it's hardly difficult to obtain that information."

That depends on which register. The "Open Register" yes.

A_Geordie

oldagetraveller1 said:

"You do realise that the electoral register ,that anyone can view, contains names and addresses so it's hardly difficult to obtain that information."

That depends on which register. The "Open Register" yes.

TheSpectator is right, the full electoral register can be accessed, not just the open register but it can only be viewed under supervision of an authorised person and no copying, photographs or the alike except for hand written notes.

However, I don't think the point is how accessible one's name and address is, because of the time, effort and cost it would take to go through the register and it would more than likely arouse suspicion where one is reproducing the register in hand written notes. We are talking about someone who has stolen a parcel, potentially an expensive or luxury one but nonetheless would give rise to the suggestion that the individual has money to spend and if that person stealing the parcel felt like it, they could then attempt to commit further fraud using the name and address.

As for mail redirection, unless the rules have changed, I did my mail redirection online and only received email confirmation. No letter was sent to the old address. But this is just one example, there are plenty more.

I also agree people with sense would make their information private on social media, but it doesn't stop those fraudsters from connecting as friends and obtaining the information they need.. happens all the time around the world and probably right now as we speak. 

Ultimately we can go tit for tat on this topic, but the reality is that some people are more blasé than others when it comes to their personal data and that's fine, but I don't think the OP is being too unrealistic to have concerns about having their parcel stolen with the possibility that the information gained could be used to commit further ID fraud. 

Shevchenko01

born_again said:

GDPR relates to how companies store data, not how any letter/parcel has address on, or how would any delivery person be able to deliver the item.
Even if it had been left inside, then any person in the building would have been able to see your details.

Not just store, but use also.

Having the name and address on a parcel is perfectly valid and acceptable use.  Leaving that parcel and, by extension, that data, in public view is not a valid use of the data.

And as the OP gave the delivery for permission to leave it in the porch, then they accepted any and all risks to their data…but not on the street.  There's a big difference here.