Number Witheld but being provided and stored.

Jakubk
Jakubk Posts: 127 Forumite
in Consumer rights
I am not usually one of the tin foil or conspiracy theory brigade but something happened last week that I find disturbing, so I am seeking some advice.

We all have on our mobile phones an option to WITHOLD NUMBER and when we use this I feel we have a reasonable expectation of PRIVACY.

I.E. We do NOT expect an organidation or government agency to covertly identify our number and store it.

In the past I have had mobile phone companies with whom I do NOT have a contract grab my number and send me a text before, but this time it is a Government Agency.

A few months ago I made an equiry of the Land Registry on the phone number 0300 006 0411, I called again last week and they knew my name, I asked them how did they know it was me and they said "er you told me" to which I replied "I most certainly did not, I am making a generic enquiry and have not told you anything". I then probed further and they admitted that my number had come up on their system and they had opened up my "record".

I spoke to the ICO about this and they said I was right to be concerned, they said that at the very least I should be informed BEFORE my number is taken and given an option to end the call or opt out. They also said they could see no justification, they could not think of a legitimate reason and the lack of transparency was an issue.

What I would like to know is whether they are also breaking the law in some sort of communications act, I seem to remember that there are radio telecoms acts to do with this?

If the Land Registry can do this and automatically populated a database then I guess any and all Government Departments can which is a bit Big Brotherish.
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Comments

  • BoGoF
    BoGoF Posts: 7,099 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Well I don't see any consumer rights issue here but are you implying that when you first phoned the Land Registry you witheld your number and they have somehow managed to identify your actual number?

    If so I very much doubt the LR systems are capable of such a thing.
  • Jakubk
    Jakubk Posts: 127 Forumite
    You may doubt it but they confirmed it
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Its your phone that not withholding the number rather its sending it .
  • Jakubk
    Jakubk Posts: 127 Forumite
    Er NO, I called the ICO and other companies and phones, the number IS withheld, I called ICO right after without changing any setting.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Why do you think a government agency or actually any firm shouldn't be able to keep a record of when you call? I find it helpful if I call someone and they have an easily accessible record of when I called and what was discussed.

    If you called with a series of complaints and every time you had to start from the beginning because you didn't want them to keep any information about the call, would you find that acceptable?

    What are you afraid of?
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    There is very good reason for the land registry to keep records of who calls them.

    No doubt you would be upset if it turned out that a fraudster had acquired ownership of your house.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Jakubk wrote: »
    Er NO, I called the ICO and other companies and phones, the number IS withheld, I called ICO right after without changing any setting.
    It seems rather more plausible that you didn't withhold your number rather than the Land Registry (or anybody else) having some special power to bypass withheld numbers - as far as I know only calls to the emergency operators routinely do that.
  • Chino
    Chino Posts: 2,029 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    camelot1971 wrote: »
    If you called with a series of complaints and every time you had to start from the beginning because you didn't want them to keep any information about the call, would you find that acceptable?
    I don't know about the OP, but I would find that perfectly acceptable if it was my decision to without my name when making this series of complaints.
    steampowered wrote: »
    No doubt you would be upset if it turned out that a fraudster had acquired ownership of your house.
    Do you seriously believe that title deeds change hands based on nothing more than someone asking for one over a telephone?
  • stragglebod
    stragglebod Posts: 1,324 Forumite
    First Post Name Dropper First Anniversary
    Most likely:


    1. You hadn't actually got number witholding turned on
    2. Your mobile phone provider had a technical issue
  • Manxman_in_exile
    Manxman_in_exile Posts: 8,380 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Chino wrote: »
    I don't know about the OP, but I would find that perfectly acceptable if it was my decision to without my name when making this series of complaints.


    Do you seriously believe that title deeds change hands based on nothing more than someone asking for one over a telephone?[/QUOTE]


    I'm probably mistaken but I've always assumed from the content of their posts that steampowered was a lawyer - but perhaps not a conveyancer :) !
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