Some readers will have noticed a flurry of correspondence over the past few
days about this subject.  (Other readers will simply have deleted the
emails).
 
Advice was sought from someone who felt they had been the victim of a
"scam", and they were keen to understand what evidence of "consent" had
actually been supplied to a premium rate ringtone provider to justify bills
that subsequently appeared on their telephone account. As T-Mobile was
mentioned as a company that might be the recipient of a Subject Access
Request, I feel I have the right to update and consult readers on matters
that do not affect the private relationship that Communication Service
Providers have with their subscribers.
 
It appears that the query may relate to a service provided by a company
called Jamster!. This company sells ring tones to customers of all the major
networks. The Jamster! website contains information on costs and also how to
subscriber to their services. These are the instructions on how to subscribe
to receive ring tones, as they appear on the Jamster! website:

a) If you have not registered at Jamster!:,
1. Select a ringtone for example.
2. Choose "Get it!".
3. Enter your mobile number and click "next".
4. Jamster! will immediately send you a password via SMS! Please enter this
password in the corresponding field on the Jamster! website.
5. Click "Get it now!". Jamster! will then immediately send your order via
SMS or as a download link to your mobile.
6. Save your ringtone or logo.

b) If you have already registered at Jamster!,
1. Select a ringtone, for example.
2. Choose "Get it!".
3. Enter your mobile number and password and click "next".
4. Click "Get it now". Jamster! will then immediately send you your order
via SMS or as a downloadable link on your mobile.
5. Save your ringtone or logo.

So, Jamster! will know when customers go to their website and when they
subscribe to real tone and/or poly tone subscription services. In both
instances the customer's mobile phone would have been sent a pin code via
SMS which the customer has to enter on the Web site to then activate the
subscription.

Also, customers would have been sent clear messages about the cost and how
to unsubscribe.

Naturally, Jamster! would not know whether the customer who ordered the ring
tone and received the SMS and then subsequently entered the password on the
Jamster! database was actually the person who was responsible for paying the
telephone bill. All Jamster! would know is that the person who ordered the
ring tone was able to use the phone in question. Jamster! protects itself by
requiring that its customers warrent that they are at leat 16 years old and
that they have the consent of the subscriber of the mobile service to
sign-up for and use the service on their behalf, and to agree on behalf of
the subscriber and themselves to be bound by the Jamster! terms &
conditions.   

This is similar to the situation where your children run up large phone
bills on your home phone - its hard to refuse to pay the bill as you are
contractually responsible for the way "your" phone is used. 

The issue of auditing "consent" in the on-line environment is one that is
likely to become more significant as the e-economy develops. 

All readers are invited to browse the Jamster! website to review the
fairness and transparency of their terms and conditions & privacy policy! Go
to http://www.jamster.co.uk/ <http://www.jamster.co.uk/>  . How can these be
improved / made more transparent?

Regards
 

Martin Hoskins
Data Protection Manager
 
T-Mobile (UK) Ltd
Hatfield Business Park
Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9BW
+44 (0)7957 234585
+44 (0)1707 319056 fax
 



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