a website business has the contact address as my home address

user1977

hpuse said:

Ergates said:

hpuse said:

Ergates said:

hpuse said:

@companieshell

From what you have described, it appears like someone has setup a business with your address without your permission, which could be classified as fraud or data theft, so you may also report to

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime

Addresses are public knowledge, there is no data theft.  Also, the OP is by no stretch of the imagination the victim of fraud here, so the polic/action fraud will have no interest.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/personal-information-what-is-it/what-is-personal-data/can-we-identify-an-individual-indirectly/

For example, if searching a public register or reverse directory would enable you to identify an individual from an address or telephone number, and you are likely to use this resource for this purpose, you should consider that the address or telephone number data is capable of identifying an individual.

Do you see the text I have bolded?   Do you understand it?

An address is PII if and when it is linked to a person or persons.   Just an address on it's own is not PII, it is publicly available information.  You can walk down any street and see the house numbers.   You can look on a street map of any town and see the street names.  You can go onto the Post Office website and look up any address in the UK.

In this instance, the company in question has only used the OPs address, and it is not linked to any identifying information about the OP.

There has been no data theft.   The OP is not a victim of fraud and the police and/or action fraud will have no interest.

Hyperbole helps noone.

Please confirm -  using someone’s address without consent to form a private limited company is not illegal or against GDPR? 

The address is not in itself personal data of the actual resident, no.

hpuse

powerful_Rogue said:

hpuse said:

Ergates said:

hpuse said:

Ergates said:

hpuse said:

@companieshell

From what you have described, it appears like someone has setup a business with your address without your permission, which could be classified as fraud or data theft, so you may also report to

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime

Addresses are public knowledge, there is no data theft.  Also, the OP is by no stretch of the imagination the victim of fraud here, so the polic/action fraud will have no interest.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/personal-information-what-is-it/what-is-personal-data/can-we-identify-an-individual-indirectly/

For example, if searching a public register or reverse directory would enable you to identify an individual from an address or telephone number, and you are likely to use this resource for this purpose, you should consider that the address or telephone number data is capable of identifying an individual.

Do you see the text I have bolded?   Do you understand it?

An address is PII if and when it is linked to a person or persons.   Just an address on it's own is not PII, it is publicly available information.  You can walk down any street and see the house numbers.   You can look on a street map of any town and see the street names.  You can go onto the Post Office website and look up any address in the UK.

In this instance, the company in question has only used the OPs address, and it is not linked to any identifying information about the OP.

There has been no data theft.   The OP is not a victim of fraud and the police and/or action fraud will have no interest.

Hyperbole helps noone.

Please confirm -  using someone’s address without consent to form a private limited company is not illegal or against GDPR? 

Wouldn't be against GDPR.

Whether it's illegal would depend on the intent of the person using it.

Hey Rogue,
You mean to say, even if the address is a private residential address, it wouldn’t be against GDPR to register a company at Companies house without consent from the owner of the house.

QrizB

hpuse said:

powerful_Rogue said:

hpuse said:

Please confirm -  using someone’s address without consent to form a private limited company is not illegal or against GDPR? 

Wouldn't be against GDPR.

Whether it's illegal would depend on the intent of the person using it.

Hey Rogue,
You mean to say, even if the address is a private residential address, it wouldn’t be against GDPR to register a company at Companies house without consent from the owner of the house.

Rogue has said exactly that already, twice. I can't see why you want them to say it again?

It's not against FDPR as an address (without an associated named person) is not personally identifying information.

hpuse

Just to be absolutely clear for the sake of posterity,  the registered address on Companies house is public record and it is where a public or authorities can visit to inspect companies legal documents.

If registration is carried out by a person using a “random address”, he is indeed acting against company formation law, by handling data(a private address) that belongs to someone else.

Jenni_D

Bulldog with a bone, is the expression that comes to mind. 🤦‍♀️

flaneurs_lobster

hpuse said:

Just to be absolutely clear for the sake of posterity,  the registered address on Companies house is public record and it is where a public or authorities can visit to inspect companies legal documents.

If registration is carried out by a person using a “random address”, he is indeed acting against company formation law, by handling data(a private address) that belongs to someone else.

Absolutely right, apart from that last bit, it's against company formation law because it's a false statement of fact.

The private address does not belong to someone else, it's the public description of the location of a property. 

hpuse

Jenni_D said:

Bulldog with a bone, is the expression that comes to mind. 🤦‍♀️

feeling of camaraderie doesn’t play well in public forums.

hpuse

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-a-company-using-your-personal-details-without-your-permission#more-guidance-on-fraud-and-identity-theft

Ergates

hpuse said:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-a-company-using-your-personal-details-without-your-permission#more-guidance-on-fraud-and-identity-theft

An address is not your personal details.   You do not own your address.

You might own the building situated at "your" address, but you do not own the address itself.  It is publicly available information.

This has been explained to you very clearly, multiple times, by multiple different people.   Which bit are you struggling to understand?

Would it help if we used smaller words?

hpuse

Ergates said:

hpuse said:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-a-company-using-your-personal-details-without-your-permission#more-guidance-on-fraud-and-identity-theft

An address is not your personal details.   You do not own your address.

You might own the building situated at "your" address, but you do not own the address itself.  It is publicly available information.

This has been explained to you very clearly, multiple times, by multiple different people.   Which bit are you struggling to understand?

Would it help if we used smaller words?

Yes, In smaller words - 40 is a number that I do not “own”, but that is “my” age and it belongs to me.

Likewise, using “my” private address to form a company without “my” consent is against GDPR and potentially fraudulent, hence should be reported to Action Fraud as well. (Context of this thread - it would help if the focus is on it, rather than the poster 😀!)

Hope the above is easy to comprehend, now?