Disclosure of bank details
 

On Fri, 07 Nov 2003 19:50:09 +0000, Brad Moffat
wrote:

So now you know the background, here's my question: Is what Sky have
done legal? They've disclosed my personal banking details to a third
party. That can't be right, can it?

Contact the Information Commissioner's office and make a complaint.
See:- http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/

--
Hiram Hackenbacker

"Brad Moffat" wrote in message
...
Hi folks, here's a quick question regarding disclosure of bank
details.



It sounds to me like Sky have just written to their new account holder with
the details of her account thats all.

"Hiram Hackenbacker" wrote in message
...

: Contact the Information Commissioner's office and make a complaint.
: See:- http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/
:

lol, or alternatively he could tell his pet rabbit all about his grievance -
he'd get the same result

Brad Moffat wrote:
Hi folks, here's a quick question regarding disclosure of bank
details.

Recently I had Sky installed at my mums. Being a good son I wanted to
pay the subscription so I had the account set up with my mum as the
primary account holder but myself as the one who pays the account. I
know the account number & password and it'll be me who generally
administers the account. When I set the account up, the friendly
bloke on the end of the phone told me that all billing related mail
would come to me. So imagine my surprise when my mother tells me that
Sky have send her a letter with the new account details which also
happens to include my banking details such as the branch sort code and
account number. I wasn't too happy about that and phoned Sky. This
time another, less than helpful, bloke told me that it couldn't be
changed as the Sky account holder is my mother and he couldn't send
the billing information to me - even though I pay for the damned
thing! So I've written a letter to Sky begging them to change the
billing address to mine although I doubt that any kind of reasoned
thinking will have any effect on these bureaucrats.

So now you know the background, here's my question: Is what Sky have
done legal? They've disclosed my personal banking details to a third
party. That can't be right, can it?
oh dear, yes they are assholes. Why are you doing business with assholes?

So now you know the background, here's my question: Is what Sky have
done legal? They've disclosed my personal banking details to a third
party. That can't be right, can it?

No, its probably not right - but their system is undoubtedly not designed to
cope with what you are doing. They have entered the thing in there so "it
works" but then you get a minor glitch like this.

OTOH they don't have & havn't released any more information than you do
every time you write a cheque!

Not having a go here but people (generally) seem to get very wound up and
protective over bank details....as above given that we all give them out
like confetti anyway its a bit pointless (!)

I.

On Sat, 8 Nov 2003 00:21:21 -0000, "Iain Miller"
wrote:



So now you know the background, here's my question: Is what Sky have
done legal? They've disclosed my personal banking details to a third
party. That can't be right, can it?

No, its probably not right - but their system is undoubtedly not designed to
cope with what you are doing. They have entered the thing in there so "it
works" but then you get a minor glitch like this.

OTOH they don't have & havn't released any more information than you do
every time you write a cheque!

Not having a go here but people (generally) seem to get very wound up and
protective over bank details....as above given that we all give them out
like confetti anyway its a bit pointless (!)


It's all gone a bit mad with various people's interpretation of data
protection. I bought my wife's phone and she bought mine. It's a
nightmare trying to sort anything out with the phone company - they
won't talk to either of us about our own phone bills! I tried to bluff
it out by talking in a squeaky voice but I couldn't keep it going and
started laughing, at which point the guy got suspicious and I had to
end the call. Best to do it all online.
Then there's the RAC who wouldn't let us renew our subscription
because I was the member but the DD was my wife's. Their only
suggestion was that we take out joint membership - so we went to
another breakdown insurance company and saved about £50 into the
bargain.

--
Paul
My Lake District walking site (updated 29th September 2003):
http://paulrooney.netfirms.com

Please sponsor me for the London Marathon at:
http://www.justgiving.com/london2004

I would doubt very much sky gave your actual account details to a
third party, however its possible they gave the name of whom you bank
with.

I would also suspect they gave your name and address to many others,
not just banks.

When you subscribed to sky and signed the dotted line, you probable
did'nt notice the section directly below......

"Information about you or your subscription account may also be shared
with other companies outside the group, including for sales, marketing
and market research relating to products or services. If you would
prefer us not to share such information with companies outside the
group please tic this box."

Marty

http://www.skydigitalcards.com

Yes, but what you seem to be forgetting is that Sky **know** she does not
pay the bill and yet have still disclosed someone else's bank details to
her. The fact that it is her son paying the account makes no difference
from if it had been the man in the moon! They have obligations under the
Data Protection Act and I'm fairly sure they are on extremely dodgy ground.
How would you like it if all your personal bank details were sent to your
mother?


"Jonny Skyman" wrote in message
...

"Brad Moffat" wrote in message
...
Hi folks, here's a quick question regarding disclosure of bank
details.



It sounds to me like Sky have just written to their new account holder
with
the details of her account thats all.

I see your point about the information being given out on cheques, but that
is with your permission (technically). What Sky have done is given your
bank account details to a third party *without* your permission. An earlier
reply made reference to the small print about your account details being
passed on, but that does not include your bank details, which the respondent
doesn't seem to consider.

It really annoys me when a company with as much money and influence as Sky
have doesn't spend the time or money on decent IT systems. But then, they
are trying to cut costs with an Indian call-centre so nothing would surprise
me.

I think you should pursue the DPA angle, maybe get a solicitor's letter sent
to Sky for infringements of privacy and the DPA. Might not help the
situation, but you may jsut be surprised.

"Brad Moffat" wrote in message
...
"Iain Miller" wrote:



So now you know the background, here's my question: Is what Sky have
done legal? They've disclosed my personal banking details to a third
party. That can't be right, can it?

No, its probably not right - but their system is undoubtedly not
designed to
cope with what you are doing. They have entered the thing in there so
"it
works" but then you get a minor glitch like this.

OTOH they don't have & havn't released any more information than you do
every time you write a cheque!

Not having a go here but people (generally) seem to get very wound up
and
protective over bank details....as above given that we all give them out
like confetti anyway its a bit pointless (!)

I.





You're probably right, Iain. Their systems are probably not designed
with this situation in mind. It's just annoying that every time you
speak to one of the call centre monkeys at Sky you get a different
story and there seems to be a reluctance or inability to see any sort
of reason. As I said, I've written to Sky's correspondence
department. Maybe someone with an IQ higher than that of a potato
will read it and take pity on me.

You're also right when you say that technically they're probably in
breach of the Data Protection Act but as you quite rightly point out,
the data that has been disclosed is something I give out freely anyway
on cheques. (Didn't think of that.) But then, I thought the DPA said
that it's only publicly available information like your address that
can passed on. Oh, I don't know.

I'm not going to worry about it too much anyway. I don't think me old
mum will rip me off! :-)

Thanks to all who replied.


Brad

--
Brad Moffat
email:

"Dilbert" [email protected] wrote in message ...
Yes, but what you seem to be forgetting is that Sky **know** she does not
pay the bill and yet have still disclosed someone else's bank details to
her. The fact that it is her son paying the account makes no difference
from if it had been the man in the moon! They have obligations under the
Data Protection Act and I'm fairly sure they are on extremely dodgy
ground.
How would you like it if all your personal bank details were sent to your
mother?


I couldn't care, knowing my bank details are useless... Everytime i write a
cheque i give out my sor code and account number.
You can't do anything with it.

Js