What is with people and my private information? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Rathji · 02-05-2009, 09:48 AM

A couple weeks back, I had a credit company call me about something and they wanted to verify that it was me talking to them, so I said I wasn't going to randomly give this information over the phone to someone who had just called me out of the blue. So they gave me the phone number and I called them back the next day.

So again of course they want to verify my identity and ask for my address. When I get to the address I give them the current one, but I moved last year and I guess I forgot to update their data. So instead of asking me if my address had changed, the lady says"Thats the wrong address, is your address XXXX?"

She just gave me my address, without any confirmation that she was talking to me. Isn't this a violation of FOIP?

And again this morning, a company (I don't even know which one) called me on my cell and it was 5 mins before class. So I tell them to call me back in an hour and I would be glad to talk to them. They said they could only do that if I would give them certian personally identifying information that included my address and other security type questions.

So I refused, since I did not solicit this phone call and have no idea who is calling me other than "British Columbia". They got all pissy and said I was going to cause myself alot of problems if I didn't give this information to get this call back.

So am I way out in left feild on this? Should people be this free with my information or be expecting me to be this free with it? Or am I just over reacting as the obsessive paranoid that I am?

sixpacked · 02-05-2009, 09:51 AM

http://www.privcom.gc.ca/legislation/02_06_01_e.asp

JustAnotherGuy · 02-05-2009, 09:52 AM

I have the same concern. I get a phone call from who knows who. They say they are from xxxx company which I deal with. Then they ask to confirm my details. I no longer give them the details. I get that phone number to phone them back. Then go from there.

First time I asked the person to confirm their identify they were stumped.

I would think that anybody who gets pissy might not be from a 'real' company. But then I have become very paranoid about all these scams.

missdpuck · 02-05-2009, 09:55 AM

Living in Florida I find it odd that I get so many calls from BC and they are the same as you described, Rathji.

vanisleflamesfan · 02-05-2009, 09:55 AM

I see I was beaten to the punch, I was just about to post that same link. I would strongly advise everyone to read PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act). I recently had a fight with a hotel over them keeping my credit card info and so I went away and looked into these laws a bit. When I came back at them with this they back-tracked and appologized so fast I didn't know what to do. Every consumer should know his or her rights.

Lately, every retailer who asks for my personal info gets quite the earful from me.

TheDragon · 02-05-2009, 09:58 AM

Identity theft is worth being paranoid over, if you ask me.

I like my credit rating the way it is, thank you.

simonsays · 02-05-2009, 09:59 AM

And here I thought this thread was going to be about buying electronics from Future Shop.

Cashier: That'll be $45.99. Postal code?
simonsays: ...What? ..No.

missdpuck · 02-05-2009, 10:00 AM

I went through a phase where I only had one credit card. Long story short I had an emergency and had to stay in a hotel. I had reported that card lost a day before so I had to pay cash. They asked me for a $250. deposit for paying cash! Fortunately I still had my ATM card (which was from a local credit union and did not have a VISA checkcard logo so could not be used as credit/debit). They said the deposit was for security purpose and if my info checked out the deposit would be refunded to me. Huh? I did get the money back but jeez.

02-05-2009, 10:04 AM

I have a rule at my store that my employees aren't allowed to "confirm" anything over the phone. As soon as you "confirm" things, companys take that as an acceptance that you want to do business with them. I direct them to HO.

As a retailer, we will ask you if you want to be included on our mailing list for special offers (we have a customer appreciation day twice a year). And it helps track receipts for warranty or return purposes. This info doesn't leave our store. If you don't want to be added, just say no. No need to be angry at us... we're just trying to do our job

I wouldn't do anything over a phone.

02-05-2009, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonsays

And here I thought this thread was going to be about buying electronics from Future Shop.

Cashier: That'll be $45.99. Postal code?
simonsays: ...What? ..No.

They just ask for the postal code to see where everyone is shopping from.... If enough people are coming in from say: Bragg Creek, they build a FS out there.

Boblobla · 02-05-2009, 10:12 AM

I never ever ever ever give out personal information if someone is calling me. If I call you and you need my address to verify who I am that is fine, there is no freaking way I am giving out my info over the phone when I am not positive you are who you say you are.

mykalberta · 02-05-2009, 10:37 AM

I agree, someone calls me asking for confimration of something, there is no way they get it.

I personally dont accept phone calls from numbers I dont have in my contacts list. They can leave a message and if I deem it important enough, I might call them back if I am not doing something, like say breathing

Kipper is King · 02-05-2009, 10:48 AM

Last summer, I went with my dad to do some preliminary looking around at a car dealership. There was model he was curious about, but the guy would not give him the price with the options he wanted until he gave him a boatload of info. The guy claimed he "needed it" in order to check the price.

My dad then stated that we "needed" to leave!

vanisleflamesfan · 02-05-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puxlut

They just ask for the postal code to see where everyone is shopping from.... If enough people are coming in from say: Bragg Creek, they build a FS out there.

That's fine, but you are not obligated to provide this information to them.

*edit* And just as an addendum, Alberta actually has it's own privacy legislation which is, in some ways, more detailed than the federal legislation.

Link

02-05-2009, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

That's fine, but you are not obligated to provide this information to them.

*edit* And just as an addendum, Alberta actually has it's own privacy legislation which is, in some ways, more detailed than the federal legislation.

Link

I totally agree with you. IKEA never gets my postal code (probablly because most of the time I can't remember)

vanisleflamesfan · 02-05-2009, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puxlut

I totally agree with you. IKEA never gets my postal code (probablly because most of the time I can't remember)

I thought that IKEA had stopped asking. It seems to me that the last time I was there they didn't ask me. Or maybe they just remembered me from the last time they asked...

ken0042 · 02-05-2009, 11:48 AM

The postal code at Ikea- meh. I'll give it. If you are that paranoid then find out the postal code from 2 streets over and give that to them. They could do more damage to me with my credit card number than my postal code. As somebody who used to run a business where we would track the effectiveness of flyers I can appreciate where they are coming from.

However a couple of years ago I had my car stolen. Some guy with a thick accent called saying he was the adjuster, and needed all sorts of info to get me a rental car started. I told him I didn't want a rental car as I had the use of a friend's vehicle. He kept insisting that I give him info like my Driver's License, date of birth, etc. When I asked him to confirm info that the insurance company would have (like the claim number) he couldn't do it. All he could confirm back to me was info that would have been on the pink card inside my stolen car.

Turns out he was the adjuster, and after a few angry calls he was no longer assigned to my case. But he just didn't get it why I didn't want info when all he could give me was info the car thieves would have.

4X4 · 02-05-2009, 12:06 PM

When you think about it, it's downright scary how many different computers we're all in. Every so often when I hear a news report about security being compromised at such and such company and a few thousand people having to be on alert that their info is inside some stolen computer or hacked server, it really pisses me off.

Fricken Telus wanted my drivers license number to give me a goddamn land line. What the hell do you need that for? When I refused she asked me for my AHC number. Seriously. I actually refused to give her either number and the transaction stopped. They wouldn't hook it up without one of those two numbers. Somehow, my sister who works at Telus managed to convince me to relent on the issue.... But it still really drives me nuts.

The other day I stopped for gas at Petro. I went in to pay and the guy told me that if I had a petro card I'd save 5 bucks or whatever. So he gives me this thing to fill out and it's asking for my name and address and bday and stuff. So I told him to forget about it. Dude keeps yapping about how great it is and I'll save 5 bucks and whatever so I took the form and completely BS'd on the thing to save the money. Like I'm seriously going to leave a piece of paper in a f***ing gas station with my name and address and bday and phone number and email and all that crap.

I think that we, as in people alive today and old enough to be doing business and whatnot, are going to be victims of a major crime wave of identity theft. It'll all get ironed out in a decade or so, but not until businesses find better, more secure ways to maintain a relationship with their clients without clients having to give them every detail about themselves to buy a cd.

Titan · 02-05-2009, 12:06 PM

My postal code? 90210. Yeah Beverly Hills!!

jtfrogger · 02-05-2009, 01:25 PM

I know someone who was a victim of identity theft. It is a huge hassle that can be an annoyance for your entire life.

My biggest beef is when a retailer records your drivers license, because it is relatively common. Here's a quick news release on the topic.

I recently had banks record this information, and the only reason that they gave was as proof of identity. I am not sure if banks are included in the same legislation or not, so I didn't push it too much. I am also a little more comfortable with a bank, since I am confident that they will protect the information.

Now a company like Sports Rent, I am not comfortable with having my driver's license information. Yet they demand it or they won't do business with you. I know that is against the privacy act. And if anyone were to ever break into their store, I am sure that you would be able to get a nice pile of personal information of their customers including name, address, phone number, driver's license, birthday & credit card number.