Diabolical Data Protection Practices at Virgin Media?

Oct. 21, 2009 - PRLog -- The error on virgin Media's part went on for about 2 years!.
The gentleman who preferred not to be named said now “Now that I have been refunded I will be tackling Virgin Media for their negligence, lack of customer service and for breach of the Data Protection Act.”

He went on to say “Virgin Media broke the Data Protection Act by disclosing the name and the address of the person the other account was registered to.”

Having had the name and address of the other account number disclosed to him the gentleman in the report feels, quite understandably, there is a risk of his information and that of any other Virgin Media customer being unlawfully disclosed
The Data Protection Act gives individuals the right to know what information is held about them. It provides a framework to ensure that personal information is handled properly.
The Act works in two ways. Firstly, it states that anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles, which make sure that personal information is:
•   Fairly and lawfully processed
•   Processed for limited purposes
•   Adequate, relevant and not excessive
•   Accurate and up to date
•   Not kept for longer than is necessary
•   Processed in line with your rights
•   Secure
•   Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection

The second area covered by the Act provides individuals with important rights, including the right to find out what personal information is held on computer and most paper records.

Should an individual or organisation feel they're being denied access to personal information they're entitled to, or feel their information has not been handled according to the eight principles, they can contact the Information Commissioner's Office for help. Complaints are usually dealt with informally, but if this isn't possible, enforcement action can be taken.

You might have a data protection problem if any of the following apply to you:

1 You have been denied any of your rights, including your right to see the
personal information an organisation holds about you.

2 Personal information about you is used, held or disclosed: unfairly for a reason that is not the one it was collected for, or without proper security.

3 Personal information about you is: inadequate, irrelevant or excessive, inaccurate or out of date, or kept for longer than is necessary.

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