How safe is personal information?

An Audlem resident has contacted Audlem Online with a disturbing story that casts serious doubt about the security of personal and financial information passed to a public authority. After being asked to send certified details of family income in relation to a student grant, the resident later received an unsolicited telephone call from a travel company based, the caller said, in Rugeley, Staffordshire.

After establishing the resident's name and marital status, the holiday representative then stated the resident's income, the same figure that had been supplied to the public body. It may, of course have been a wild guess by the holiday company's representative, indeed there could be a host of such innocent explanations. But suspicions were aroused and the phone was put down with indignation.

The resident wonders if anybody else has had a call from a travel agent armed with such private information. We know the likes of DVLA sell personal information to car park operators, indeed the Government has made £15 million in the past five years by selling the names and addresses of more than six million motorists to wheel clampers and car park operators. Nearly 70 private firms, including bailiffs, debt collectors, solicitors and finance companies are allowed access to the database of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, which holds personal information about Britain's 38 million drivers.

This Audlem incident is an alarming new indication of the lack of privacy if private financial information has been misused, as is suspected. If you have had a similar experience, do contact Audlem Online.

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