I found out something that really disturbed me this week. Our local councils SELL our personal information from the electoral register onto various websites for a profit. Now Im no political crusader, but this prompted me to write to my local MP. Be warned, its quite a long, but it might prove useful if you dont want your details available across the internet: Hi James, I’m wondering if you can help/advise me on something please? My name is Richard Metcalfe and I live at **************** in Sidcup with my wife and my 7 year old twins. I’ve never had cause to contact my local MP before, but an issue has come to light which has prompted me to do so. I’m hoping that you can help my family and I, and shed some light on this rather disturbing situation. A friend of mind recently brought to my attention that there are certain websites where information such as my name, address, telephone number, age group and even who I’m married to are readily available. One such website is 192. I checked this website and found that when I entered my name it took no more than a minute to find myself and these details. I understand that if I register with the website I can find even more information, although I do not wish to do so as they obviously are not particularly conscientious about data protection. I emailed one of their CO1 Record Removal Forms to this website on the 7th October requesting that my details be removed as per the attached email, and received a reply email two days later confirming that my details would be removed within 7 days. I checked the website yesterday and found I was still on there. I phoned their “customer service” department and they told me this is because I had forgotten to include one of my previous addresses on the form. I asked the lady if she could remove me but she said I would need to submit the request in writing (again). The fact that I had already sent a written request to remove me was obviously not good enough to remove me completely. I asked if it was my old address at ***************** in Sidcup that was still on there, and she confirmed it was. I told her I couldn’t recall my door number or postcode at that address as we hadn’t liver there for over 8 years, and could she tell me what they were so I could submit another CO1 Record Removal Form. Rather ironically, she told me that she couldn’t give me that information over the phone because of the Data Protection Act! I then asked her what service her company provides, and she told me they are an online directory. I told her that I was in fact ex-directory and had not given permission for any of my personal details to be put out into the public domain, to which she replied “well you obviously didn’t tick the opt out box on your electoral register form”. She then went on to explain that when the form is sent out for us to update our details for the local electoral register, there is a box that you need to tick to say you don’t want your details passed on to other parties, and if you don’t tick it, the local council (and this is what really disturbed me) sells them on to companies such as 192. I found this incredible, and actually found myself defending Bexley Council saying that they would never be as unethical, immoral and underhanded as to profit from selling on both mine and my family’s security in such a way. She assured me that this was the case, and so after further pleading with her to remove my remaining details from their website which she blatantly refused to do, I said I would phone Bexley Council to see what they had to say. I’m assuming that you are fully aware of what I found out when I called Bexley Council. I spoke to a very helpful lady who confirmed that there is indeed a box on the form that needs to be ticked for me to opt out , and if I did not tick this box, the council would indeed sell my details to whoever wants to buy them. I was horrified by the thought that my local council would betray me and my personal details for a profit in such a Judas like way. I confirmed that I have not given anyone permission to do this at any time, but she said it was all because I had not ticked this box. I said I thought it was outrageous and surely the box should be marked so that you had to tick it to physically give permission as opposed to having to tick it to opt out. She was very understanding, and said that this wasn’t even a local council policy, this had come directly from the government. She also told me it’s been this way for the past ten years or so. I therefore now have to write to Bexley Council to permanently opt out of having any further personal information sold on to parties who would then also profit from its distribution, and so will my wife. Obviously this will only stop any further distribution of our details. I now need to try and track down everyone who has been sold our information in the past and try and get them to remove it. I’m horrified to think that because my wife and I missed ticking this box, our personal details are being sold off by Bexley Council under direction from the government. My wife and I both work full time in healthcare, me in the private sector and my wife in the NHS. We have 7 year old twins to look after which is a full time job in itself, and with day to day life to contend with, it is inevitable that we will miss things like this opt out box every so often amongst the unending amount of letters, forms and other paperwork that come through our door each month. I still maintain that at no point in time have either my wife or I given permission in any way shape of form to Bexley Council or anyone else for that matter to sell on our details, and it would seem that this box has been put in place to catch unsuspecting victims such as us out so the council can make a fast profit. It’s like me writing to someone (who’s address and personal details I could no doubt get from one of these websites) and then adding a section in the small print saying that I would like to go round and burgle their house, and unless they tick the box below to say I don’t have permission, I’ll assume they’re okay with it. I wonder how that defence would stand up in court? And to add insult to injury, we are being caught out by a form that we complete to ensure we can vote to keep the local council and government in their jobs!!! Isn’t it enough that we pay ridiculously high taxes? How much more profit does the council and government hope to squeeze from us? And to do so by exposing us to identity fraud is unquestionably immoral! Just after my children were born in 2006, my wife and I were victims of identity fraud having had a large sum of money stolen from our joint account and apparently spent in Bangkok. I’ll never forget the bank clerk’s ability to maintain a straight face as she asked my wife if she had been to Thailand recently while my wife stood there with a double buggy containing my children who were only a few months old! We could not figure out how this fraud could have happened as we are extremely meticulous in ensuring all our personal paperwork is shredded or burnt. However, this may be the answer we were looking for. Please can you explain why the government condones the selling of personal information for the financial gain of the local councils, especially given all the widely reported cases of identity theft and associated fraud? I would like to think the local council and the government have my family’s best interests at heart. However, this certainly does not seem to be the case. Are the government not prepared to do something to change this or stop it happening? Can you also tell me how I can go about getting my family’s personal details removed from the all these sites on the internet and any other of these so called services. My wife and I work extremely hard to support ourselves and our family while asking nothing in return from the government in the way of financial support. All we ask is that we are afforded protection from those who feel it is okay to profit from the distribution of our personal information, leaving us venerable to identity fraud. Thank you for your help, and I look forward to your reply. Regards, Richard.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 12:03:24 +0000
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