Consumer concerns over the controversial adware outfit Phorm were brought into sharp relief last week when it was revealed that Virgin Media staff members did an HMRC – some 3,000 customers bank details were burned, unencrypted, to a CD-R which was then promptly lost somewhere.
The details, including names and home addresses, were allegedly taken from those customers who had signed up for Virgin Media services in Carphone Warehouse high street outlets.
According to a report published in The Register, Virgin Media have coughed up for credit file protection, meaning that customers credit histories will remain unaffected by any fraudulent activity which may arise from the data loss – good to know in these times of credit crunches and sub-prime slip-ups.
This will be another thorn in the side of the Phorm camp, who have been fighting an uphill struggle to convince consumers that their personal details will not be compromised by their cookie-tracking customer-relevant ad service.
Virgin, along with BT Broadband and TalkTalk have all agreed to sign up with Phorm, on the proviso that customers will be given the choice to ‘opt out’ of the service. Findings of a survey carried out by Ofcom which were published last month, revealed that more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of UK citizens are concerned about identity fraud and the amount of personal data that is available to companies and businesses. With the top three ISPs in the UK facing increasingly stiff competition from the other three snapping at their heels, any decision likely to alienate and drive away existing consumer bases isn’t likely to roll very well.
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