Data Protection Act? pah
In order to create this blog and because I'm interested in the goings on with my local Hospital I signed up for Marks regular newsletter regarding the PRH. I've not received anything until this afternoon popped up a notification that Mark Pritchard had sent me a mail. I harshly opened it hoping it was a response to at least one of the letters I've written him or it was some good news about the PRH.Now I've been using email for nigh on ten years but I you don’t have to be a novice to know that millions of mails received an hour are spam. Bots will harvest addresses from webpage’s or people with compromised machines will unknowingly be sending out their entire address book from their mail client.
It is knowing this that makes me a little cautious how I post my email address, if I sign up for something I make sure my address isn't going to be used for anything, I double check it.
That said, I read the bumf on MARKS save the PRH site and stuck in my address, reading very carefully marks statement about privacy;
By giving me your details you are agreeing to receive communications from me. I will not pass on your details without consent. Data Protection Act 1988: The information you supply will be treated in the strictest confidence in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1988. Mark Pritchard MP may record your responses so that he can contact you about the issues you raise and other related public sector issues within The Wrekin Constituency. Please write to me if you do not want your information used in this way.
Mark promises not to mess about with my email address, nice one. Until I look at my gmail account a bit more closely;
Click for biggie.
What you can see is a really zoomed out version of GoogleMail which shows hundreds of email address (the big grey bit in the middle) of people who have signed up to receive the updates, and of course I have theirs.
So how is this keeping my data in the strictest confidence in accordance with the DATA protection act? Because our inept MP cant manage to stick his emails in the right Send To Box over 200 people now have my email address.
This from a man who wants the government to appoint a Cyber Security Tsar
Well done Mark, I'll turn the spam filter on!
UPDATE: Mike Ion has an update for us.
posted by BigDaddyMerk @ 11:12 pm
5 Comments:
Surprised? It is a relatively common mistake to make for small businesses to make.
You would expect better from a guy who runs a marketing and communications agency, his own tyre website (no, really) and has a brief as a cyber dodah thing.
I would expect better from a man who makes a song and dance about the data protection act on the same site.
But no, I'm not surprised.
Well done Big Daddy - I see that the great Guido has picked up on your story. Why not visit http://mike-ion.blogspot.com/ and find out what else he has been doing.
The man's a tit.
It just shows that although they make the laws and the rules the government just cannot use them!
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