Su Goulding wrote:
>I've just had the following message from my broadband
>suppliers in response to a query that I sent from the
>e-mail account I hold with them. In case you're
>wondering what I asked for that caused such a hoo-ha,
>it was the CBUK reference number for my ADSL line.
>Feel free to discuss ad nauseam the whys & wherefores
>of whether this could constitute personal data, if you
>really must.
>
>Now, I fully appreciate the need to verify customer
>identity as much as the next dp nerd, but wondered why
>this company (which prides itself on communicating in
>plain English and being down with da kidz) really
>feels the need to approach dp in such a nursery school
>teacher manner? Most peculiar - especially since they
>didn't ask for any of it last time when I e-mailed
>them from my work address.
>
>(If I were being unkind, I might think it was a
>stalling tactic to avoid giving me the information
>which will enable me to move to an ISP who can provide
>an internet link that doesn't drop out at
>unpredictable times. But I'm not that uncharitable.
>Yet.).
>S
>
>*******
>
>Dear Sir / Madam.
>
>Thank you for your recent E-mail.
>
>Unfortunately we are unable to provide you with any
>information about the account or make any changes as
>you have not passed security. This is enforced upon
>****.*** and other companies by the government, who
>passed a law called the "Data Protection Act". This is
>both for the benefit of the company and the customer.
>
>If you could provide us with your mothers maiden name,
>we would be more than happy to assist in any way
>that's possible.
>
>Kind Regards
>
>
Och aye, NTLI which rhymes with NTL!
If you are a nerd and you don't mind paying for fixed IPs etc, and you
want no freebies, ZEN networks. Else Pipex. Not sure about DP in me
disclosing my choice companies though :-)
Regards
Charles
BTW Would they have your mother's maiden name ?
--
Charles Christacopoulos, Management Information Officer,
Planning & Information, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HN,
Scotland, United Kingdom. Tel: 44(0)1382-344891. Fax: 44(0)1382-348845.
http://www.somis.dundee.ac.uk/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|