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Buzby
Customer agreement is obtained through a privacy notice at the outset of the relationship, which is an annual contract. The data sharing is not optional but required by the supplier in order to provide the service. We have worked with the regulators and consumer organisations to agree how this should be done for water accounts in a fair and consistent manner, so it is certainly compliant.
James Jones
Originally posted by Experian company representative
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Hi James,
I can assure you I have not entered into such an agreement, so whilst your response may be valid for those firms whose business model architecture was crafted to need ID or access to information sold by your company and others (and where no 'credit' it supplied, required or relevant), Water Utilities are a different ball game.
Can you advise which of E&W water utilities have in place these 'privacy notices' that explicitly permit personal data to be disclosed to third parties? Customers have every right - should they have been cavalier enough not to notice such a request - to terminate this agreement, and the DPA ensures that such processing must cease. It is not the case that such data useage is irrevocable.
Therefore, if this is part of a 'grand plan' that is now only being made public, then the daa subject (consumer) needs to unpic his cosy arrangement so the done-deal element is redacted.
As I noted earlier, Scottish Water is not party to your arrangement, and I doubt it ever will be. However my original question remains - what utility is going to risk refusal to provide a supply because the customer retains their right to keep their financial affairs private?