Satdude
Regular Member
- My Satellite Setup
- N/A
- My Location
- Ireland
Carphone warned over 'incorrect' data use
Carphone Warehouse has been warned it could face prosecution for exposing the personal details of thousands of customers online and, in some cases, inadvertently setting debt collectors on them.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said last week the Carphone Warehouse, and its sister company TalkTalk, could face the possibility of an unlimited fine if their data protection and compliance systems are not brought up to scratch within 35 days of being notified.
An ICO spokeswoman said: "If they fail to comply with the enforcement notice it can lead to prosecution where they could face a fine of up to £5,000 in the magistrates court or an unlimited fine in the crown court."
She said the ICO had received the first complaints from customers about a year ago and are still receiving complaints relating to the issues.
She added: "It is obviously a serious breach. We had hundreds of complaints, which is very high compared with other organisations of a similar size."
Mobile phone, broadband, landline and other customers with both companies found themselves unable to take out loans or mortgages because of incorrect credit records, or were visited by bailiffs to recover other debts that didn't belong to them.
Up to 4,000 online customers were also linked to the wrong accounts, receiving other people's emails and were able to access other customers' personal information over the Web, including names, addresses and phone numbers.
The companies were found to be in "serious" breach of the Data Protection Act by the ICO following a catalogue of errors that included passing inaccurate names, addresses and debts to credit reference and collection agencies, opening customer accounts in the wrong name and amending details on incorrect accounts.
Regards Satdude.
Carphone Warehouse has been warned it could face prosecution for exposing the personal details of thousands of customers online and, in some cases, inadvertently setting debt collectors on them.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said last week the Carphone Warehouse, and its sister company TalkTalk, could face the possibility of an unlimited fine if their data protection and compliance systems are not brought up to scratch within 35 days of being notified.
An ICO spokeswoman said: "If they fail to comply with the enforcement notice it can lead to prosecution where they could face a fine of up to £5,000 in the magistrates court or an unlimited fine in the crown court."
She said the ICO had received the first complaints from customers about a year ago and are still receiving complaints relating to the issues.
She added: "It is obviously a serious breach. We had hundreds of complaints, which is very high compared with other organisations of a similar size."
Mobile phone, broadband, landline and other customers with both companies found themselves unable to take out loans or mortgages because of incorrect credit records, or were visited by bailiffs to recover other debts that didn't belong to them.
Up to 4,000 online customers were also linked to the wrong accounts, receiving other people's emails and were able to access other customers' personal information over the Web, including names, addresses and phone numbers.
The companies were found to be in "serious" breach of the Data Protection Act by the ICO following a catalogue of errors that included passing inaccurate names, addresses and debts to credit reference and collection agencies, opening customer accounts in the wrong name and amending details on incorrect accounts.
Regards Satdude.