Wonder if BiliffCos and DCA;s will suffer on this one? EU GDPR on data processing regs might make it difficult where a debt and associated data is being passed around freely, also implications for Credit Reference Agencies, and Marketing companies as Data Subject must give explicit consent for the data processing From the article link below: http://www.idgconnect.com/abstract/24102/from-insular-us-firms-spammy-marketers-who-gdpr-hit-hardest ‘Privacy by design’, ‘access rights’ and ‘breach notification’ “One of the changes due to be implemented in GDPR is the explicit recognition of the concepts of ‘privacy by design’ or ‘privacy by default’. Businesses will now find themselves subject to a specific obligation to consider data privacy at the initial design stages of a project as well as throughout the lifecycle of the relevant data processing. Overlay the current privacy requirements in individual countries and you have a whole new box of worms. “Under GDPR individuals will have the right to obtain confirmation that their data is being processed and have access to their data. GDPR clarifies that the reason for allowing individuals to access their personal data is so that they can verify the lawfulness of processing. This in itself will pose huge challenges for organisations with the whole process of giving access to data subject and providing proof of legitimate processing. “This will incur the highest fines stipulated in any legislation. Organisations are notoriously bad at detecting breaches and the average, only 20%, are detected by organisations themselves, the rest are notified by third parties.” Rashmi Knowles, Chief Security Architect EMEA at RSA

Please can you help confirm something for me regarding a back garden boundary with my neighbour of 35 years. The boundaries were old stlye and marked out by hedges, not long after we moved in we asked the neighbours if we could cut them and put a fence in instead. They understandably wanted to keep the hedge. So we put the fence up on our side. Now my beautiful neighbour is moving. I have started getting anxious over the boundary because my deeds are not ckear on that side and show nothing. I do not want the hedge row cutting down because it offers a countryside feel, height, privacy. We have been maintaining the hedge on our side throughout the 35 yrs. If I recall correctly from the party wall act, puttung that fence up does not mean losing the shared boundary? Is this correct? I am only interested in truth, not trying to claim anyting that is not mine or be awkard, only peaceful. If this is correct was wondering what folk do. Ask their neighbour for a letter stating these facts? Ask them to make it clear to new owner? It is important that I minimise stress due to health and I am not bothered about a foot of boundary but the privacy the hedge currently privides if cut will make it difficult to enjoy my garden anymore. Peace Clear33 thanks in advance

Not sure if this goes under CRA or Data Protection, please move if required. I am working on an EU complaint with some others about what to me seems a breach of the data protection act or at least article 8 of the human right act regarding privacy rights. I have obtained company documents from a CRA (meant for their clients) that offer customers the opportunity to join what I will call a "club", when they join they agree to provide the data on their customers including monthly payments and an update of their address. In return they get some free access (depending on how much info they share) to CRA system. CRA then use that data to update alerts to debt collectors, information brokers and other clients. My initial concern about this was about PURPOSE, the monthly payments are NOT credit payments, but for a broadband service (with 4 million customers), they even provide this customer information if the client prepays a year upfront. If the purpose of the CRA is about CREDIT then it seems entirely WRONG to pass on this information. If it was an energy company I would have a problem if the client were paying on presentation of the bill but tolerate it if the client added an outstanding bill to a monthly payment system which is in effect credit. My next concern was that the broadband company provided no meaningful way for the customer to opt out of having their data shared, the only reference in the terms provided at the point of sale was that a customer may have an address check. There is a page on their website that says they share your data with CRA, it is very much a take it or leave it comment saying we do this for your own good. If this is taken to it's logical conclusion McDonalds could share that you bought a burger, Petrol stations could share your purchasing location and so on. I think we all should have a reasonable expectation of privacy that when trading with a company as a private individual. I had a chat with a lowly member of staff at the ICO and they suggested that the CRA's are given carte blanche by the ICO and that we have to "account for ourselves", my response was that we do IF we decide to participate in taking credit but not if we do not take credit. They suggested that I might want to complain to the EU commissioners or I could complain to them first but they have a history of not going near CRA's. SHOULD WE BE ENTITLED TO OPT OUT OF THE CREDIT REFERENCE SYSTEM OR AT LEAST CONTROL WHAT IS SHARED? It would seem that Article 8 of the Human Rights Act thinks we should! It talks about a PRIVATE LIFE... The concept of a right to a private life encompasses the importance of personal dignity and AUTONOMY and the interaction a person has with others, both in private or in public. The right to personal autonomy and physical and psychological integrity, respect for private and confidential information, particularly the storing and sharing of such information Respect for privacy when one has a reasonable expectation of privacy and the right to control the dissemination of information about one’s private life. It seems to me there is no autonomy (self-government) afforded to the consumer with regard to the storing and sharing of their information by these credit reference agencies. Especially for those that do not even take credit. I think WHO I TRADE WITH and HOW MUCH I PAY it is a very private thing, especially if I am not given a MEANINGFUL way to opt out and to me that means a tick box where I say “NO YOU MAY NOT SHARE MY DATA WITH ANYONE WITHOUT MY EXPRESS WRITTEN PER OCCASION PERMISSION.” I think this "club" should be totally illegal, it amounts to a data swap. It seems to me that the ICO themselves by not enforcing this are in Breach of Article 8 as well as both the company providing the information and the CRA sharing the information. I would be very grateful for comment from the members of this forum and any advice they may wish to provide.

Nice one. Lets expose these silly people who are supposed fans and admire these nobodies.

Ok to monitor public communications, but not MP's http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33631589 Who remembers the Phorm/121media/webwise interceptions and trials by BT and VM? American link as it was majorly hushed up in UK http://www.cnet.com/news/verizon-draws-fire-for-monitoring-app-usage-browsing-habits/

Microsoft has taken a stand against the US Government and put itself into contempt by refusing to hand over data stored on it's Irish cloud servers to the NSA. More and more companies are using the cloud and if they can't rely on privacy and secrecy of their commercially sensitive data, they will stop using the cloud for storage. Microsoft has a number of allies include Apple, Google, Dropbox, and Amazon. May they win for all our sakes. If business stops using the cloud, there will not be enough income to maintain the services just for the public storing music and pictures so they will close. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxNZRSuuTzg

Does my employer have the right to insist on having my home phone number or mobile number? It is not necessary for my job role - I am a 9-5 clerk, not management.

Hi everyone, I have received a letter with an appointment for an Customer Compliance interview to take place next week. From what I have read there's nothing to worry about if I have nothing to hide, so I'm not worried and haven't even bothered with legal advice. I have collected/printed my bank statements and all the documentation they want to see already, all arranged in a folder ready for their perusal. My situation is quite straighforward, unlike some I've seen in other posts with partners and children involved, so I can't see there being any potential for complications in my case. I do have a concern, however: 1) I find it intrusive to my privacy for someone to comb through all my transactions and be able to see what I bought from where. I'd imagine they're more interested in seeing what goes in and how much money I have in total. No problem, it's all there black on white. I don't even have a problem with them seeing how much I spend, but I'm sure anyone who has nothing to hide still has normal card transactions that are intimate and personal. Am I being unreasonable in feeling which underwear shop I use and what subscriptions I have should really be private? Ultimately the answer I'm looking for is very specific, and nobody at the DWP seems to know the answer: Can I redact my statements so that they still show the balance and how much has gone in and been spent, but not necessarily the transaction details? I'm talking small amounts, nothing over a few dozen quid. Thanks in advance!

I have had serious council debt issues that I am just coming out of the other side of. I'm due to move soon to a new area where a friend works in the council tax dept. Will they be able to see everything that has happened, and more importantly, if yes then could they discuss with anyone? So worried!!

Surely this cannot be allowed as they are not filming for security purposes but are in essence selling on your personal data without your permission. I know it is not data as it is generally known but it is still your data. However we have no idea how else that data coudl eb used. Tesco have your card details which gives your address plus your photo? Luckily we do not use Tesco so not really an issue for us. http://www.signal1.co.uk/on-air/breakfast/topics/tesco-advert-face-scanner/

How do I change my settings on FB so that everyone can't see everything I've commented on? getting really annoyed now; as certain family members think it's ok to just mention stuff I've posted that I don't wish to talk about.

Hello, I got my contract late July ... 24 month contract Samsung galaxy s3--- £31 a month ---5months free redemption every 6 month's Since I got this contract in Aug my internet stopped working for a month ... after numerous calls being hung up on customer service people being rude to me it finally got fixed but no adjustment from my bill after I asked loads of times... Then I have been trying to claim on my insurance for dropping my phone, I needed the iemi number first and last usage and the registration datebof my contract... well it took 5 weeks and many attempts to get this right..(hopefully i managed to get all the information to insurance on time). including sending me some one else's details! And not enough of my own. And now they are saying that I never cancelled the direct debit which I cancelled in august (as I like to phone up and pay when u know I have the money) and taken money out of my account causing overdraft fees. I have had enough of the bad attitude vodaphone have towards me. I rung up today to cancell my contract because all of this and they said it would cost £180 to cancell .. I'm on income support and can't pay that... Does any one know a way of cancelling it considering they have breached privacy and their company has just failed to provide even half decent service to me a service that I am fully paying for. Thank you patsy

Hi, Not sure if I am in the correct part of the forum, I have applied for a grant from an energy trust. They have written to me, that they want proof of 2 incomes i recieve,amount and frequency via a bank statement. This is not a problem, but can i delete/cross out all other transactions including the front page (my bank balance) for privacy reasons? Do i have a legal right to do this and just leave showing what they ask for, the 2 credits?

Hi there, I wonder if anyone can provide advice. I won't go into too much detail but I am leaving my current job and starting a new one in June. I am on leave at present. I have found the new job whilst employed and it does reflect a promotion however I have only left due to bullying which my area manager is aware of. My reason for the post is the area manager instructed the branch to post all communications including payslips to my home address. After the area manager informed them of my leave date and saying he was sorry to see me go etc. someone from the branch put a mug and what looked like a payslip and dumped it at my daughter's place of work. They were told that she was away on hols but the person still left the items. My daughters' work station is not staffed in her absence apart from 2 days a week and my items were not kept secure as it is in a public area. You can imagine the gossip this visit generated and also they can't believe a company would allow this to happen. I hadn't made arrangements for this to happen. The 'payslip' actually was my end of year document so just ideal for someone to use for identity theft purposes! I have written and complained and asked how this could happen and I do know who was responsible but I do not know about privacy rules regarding payslips etc. except that common sense tells us that their actions isn't something that is acceptable.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk%2Fhome%2F2012%2F02%2Ften-people-havent-read-googles.html%23more-4205&h=XAQFdBvbyAQE4yiOeDS1x_Yb5f_Yiw_iTtLUXtdsf0B-LUQ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2105435/Three-simple-steps-delete-Google-browsing-history--late.html It would be wise to read the above ASAP, these changes take place on March 1st Lex

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk%2Fhome%2F2012%2F02%2Ften-people-havent-read-googles.html%23more-4205&h=XAQFdBvbyAQE4yiOeDS1x_Yb5f_Yiw_iTtLUXtdsf0B-LUQ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2105435/Three-simple-steps-delete-Google-browsing-history--late.html It would be wise to read the above ASAP, these changes take place on March 1st Lex

I'm not sure if anyone will know this but you never know! I heard recently that someone had done a check on me. The key points are I was left some money in a will a few months ago and the check that was done found this out due to my dealing with the solicitor. I thought all dealings with solicitors were confidential so was a bit surprised it appeared to be public avaialable even to the amount of money I had inherited. Other things were details of my parents and things I guess are on the electoral register which I guess are public available. The person who did the search was a barrister. Basically the barristers son likes my girlfriend and I guess was hoping to find something to put her off me. I am basically wondering if there is anything I can do as it seems an abuse of position, if nothing else to be able to invade my privacy like this. Does anyone know what search this is that was done and any rules around this? Thanks.