Orwell... How wrong you were.
Discussion
Well actually how damn insightful you were, but it wasn't the bloody Government you should be worried about, it's private bloody companies...
Called up the Tax line (Inland Revenue) yesterday, being a good citizen to change employment status for the Mrs, and following a 20minute queue finally got through.
Bloke on other end of phone asks me If i'm ok with an Experian security check, and after a 20min wait, i'm not wanting to hang on, so just yes it through.
But F* me, the questions they ask, where the hell do they get them from?
- Which Mobile Phone Network are you with?
- Details about my Eldest Child
- Last company I worked for.
- What Car I drive.
Now after answering these questions (and getting one wrong?!?) I asked him if all of these questions were from experian, and he said they were.
How the hell can a Private company keep all of this information on me, and then presumably sell it on to other organisations/gvmt? The information is way too sensitive for anyone to be looking after.
The wrong person with this information could target specific cars, find out where I work and so what times I am likely to be home, Find out if my kids are at school so the house will be empty, and given it's experian probably find out what loans etc I have out, so working out if i'm likely to have a big tv etc
Called up the Tax line (Inland Revenue) yesterday, being a good citizen to change employment status for the Mrs, and following a 20minute queue finally got through.
Bloke on other end of phone asks me If i'm ok with an Experian security check, and after a 20min wait, i'm not wanting to hang on, so just yes it through.
But F* me, the questions they ask, where the hell do they get them from?
- Which Mobile Phone Network are you with?
- Details about my Eldest Child
- Last company I worked for.
- What Car I drive.
Now after answering these questions (and getting one wrong?!?) I asked him if all of these questions were from experian, and he said they were.
How the hell can a Private company keep all of this information on me, and then presumably sell it on to other organisations/gvmt? The information is way too sensitive for anyone to be looking after.
The wrong person with this information could target specific cars, find out where I work and so what times I am likely to be home, Find out if my kids are at school so the house will be empty, and given it's experian probably find out what loans etc I have out, so working out if i'm likely to have a big tv etc
Edited by Efbe on Wednesday 19th January 11:05
hornetrider said:
What car are we talking about? I'm confused.
its a 328i since you ask, but opint of thread is more that people can buy a list of what car you have, where you work, where you live and lots of other stuff, prime for allowing someone to target your car... not that they'd want mine... however they may want the bikeEfbe said:
How the hell can a Private company keep all of this information on me, and then presumably sell it on to other organisations/gvmt?
Presumably they have arrangements with various government agencies to perform data farming functions for them. Nothing creepy in that but it does suggest that a government with the persuasion to privatise everything could easily move all state functions over to them. Of course there would have to be a levy imposed on us in addition to the charge to government to make it worthwhile for Experian.
The impending hand over of SHA/PCT control within the NHS to Care UK will show us just what a bad idea that model is.
And on a related note. If you don't want to be data mined & profiled every time you use the net, ditch google:
http://donttrack.us/
Babu 01 said:
Efbe said:
How the hell can a Private company keep all of this information on me, and then presumably sell it on to other organisations/gvmt?
Presumably they have arrangements with various government agencies to perform data farming functions for them. Nothing creepy in that but it does suggest that a government with the persuasion to privatise everything could easily move all state functions over to them. Of course there would have to be a levy imposed on us in addition to the charge to government to make it worthwhile for Experian.
The impending hand over of SHA/PCT control within the NHS to Care UK will show us just what a bad idea that model is.
And on a related note. If you don't want to be data mined & profiled every time you use the net, ditch google:
http://donttrack.us/
I recently signed up to Experian for a free months trial.
Its quite interesting as to what's listed really, the most surprising one being 5 entries/alerts for online insurance quotes from Privilege. Perhaps they need to know my credit rating before agreeing to let me pay by direct debit?
Its quite interesting as to what's listed really, the most surprising one being 5 entries/alerts for online insurance quotes from Privilege. Perhaps they need to know my credit rating before agreeing to let me pay by direct debit?
Efbe said:
It's quite odd withy all this identity theft sensationalism around in the media these days, that a private company would be allowed to collate data from other companies and government info on individuals and sell them on.
That's the joy of light touch regulation and free market ideology for you.Matt UK said:
Efbe said:
its a 328i since you ask
Nice car. Sport or SE spec?Babu 01 said:
Efbe said:
It's quite odd withy all this identity theft sensationalism around in the media these days, that a private company would be allowed to collate data from other companies and government info on individuals and sell them on.
That's the joy of light touch regulation and free market ideology for you.Edited by Efbe on Wednesday 19th January 12:06
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff