Duncan Smith on 23 May 2004 at 22:37 said:-
> Insurance company A buys part of Insurance company Bs
> business. A effectively buys a chunk of Bs customers who are
> on an annual insurance policy.
If company (a) has only purchased the customers with existing policies, why
does the question arise? The wording of the sales agreement should clarify
what was sold and what was not as most companies take great care over
prospective business.
> What A really wants though is not Bs existing customers, but
> all the prospects who contacted B, gave their personal
> details but did NOT take out an insurance policy.
Spending a moment looking at this from one possible data subjects
perspective. If company (a) and company (b) were operating within the same
business sector, would not the data subject have originally approached
company (a) for a quote as much as company (C) or any other company
operating in that area who they 'wished' to receive a quote from.
Circumstances are likely to exist where some prospects deliberately avoid
approaching some companies.
Then looking at it from one commercial perspective, company (a) has
purchased goods with the attendant 'ownership' issues attached with that.
Many would ask if there was any difference between a list of failed
prospects and a speculative targeted mailing list. Some companies after all
conduct such transactions as a normal course of business.
Focusing on the DP issues, the relevant Principle one matters will need to
be looked at both at the time of original collection, and if transfer takes
place, at the time of first use of the data by company (a). Principle eight
would come into focus with any attendant trans-border data flows of course.
Considering privacy issues separately - personal data appears to be
frequently perceived as a commercial commodity at that level - so the
importance of implementing principle one issues as a means of providing the
data subject with some control of their information whilst not wasting
resources must become more important, if people are not eventually to be
viewed as commodities who are bought and sold.
Ian W
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection
> issues [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Duncan Smith
> Sent: 23 May 2004 22:37
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Transfer of Assets
>
>
> Transfer of assets:
>
> Insurance company A buys part of Insurance company Bs
> business. A effectively buys a chunk of Bs customers who are
> on an annual insurance policy.
>
> There are obviously DPA issues with the transfer of assets -
> but as A carries on much the same business as B, the
> customers will see no real change other than a new brand.
>
> What A really wants though is not Bs existing customers, but
> all the prospects who contacted B, gave their personal
> details but did NOT take out an insurance policy.
>
> B would have contacted these prospects anyway around their
> renewal dates, so why shouldn't A be given these prospect
> details to do the job instead?
>
> Any thoughts - and remember, it could be you if you weren't
> "happy" with your quote?!
>
> Duncan
>
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