Barlow's brief

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Stupid questions

Vic Barlow
23/ 7/2008

I’M CONSIDERING changing my mobile phone network and rang a new provider to ask how I could check coverage in our area.

"Just give me your postcode, name and date of birth and I’ll do it for you on line," said the operator.

"How does my age affect your coverage?" I asked.

"We have to have it," he replied.

I was tempted to ask if the signal was targeted at a specific age group, but decided against it.

"It’s for our records," he said and I worried, not for the first time, that so much personal information is demanded for no legitimate reason.

Why would a mobile network provider need my date of birth to disclose their coverage?

Why do so many of our phone calls have to be recorded "for training purposes"?

Why do I need to state how many people live at my address in a survey soliciting my opinion on shoes?

It won’t be long before you’ll have to disclose your marital status when ordering a newspaper.

The views expressed on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express


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Most recent 2 of 12 user comments

   If Vic phoned me in a call centre i'd ask his for his date of birth, a strange voice Vic has, i'd ask just out of idle curiosity.
The Satisfied Customer
30/07/2008 at 12:01
   If Mr. Barlow really was asked for his date of birth, then he has every right to be bemused - there's obviously no need for this information in order for the provider to answer his simple question, and the Data Protection Act provisions certainly don't mandate it.

Of course, this assumes that Mr. Barlow really was asked for his date of birth....
MaccForum.co.uk
30/07/2008 at 04:02
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