Why Dont You Blog?

On the Radio 1 news today there was a snippet (I am not going to look it up but it will be on the BBC website) about some truly stupid youngsters. Apparently, Police in Scotland have become the first in the UK to target people who admit to crimes on social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook. (*)

Now, for me, I think this is a good idea. If people (mostly “yoofs” according to the news) are stupid enough to commit a crime and then boast about it online they need to be taken out of the gene pool urgently. One of the young lads interviewed had apparently put up pictures of himself in a balaclava carrying a knife. Why he went to these lengths to remain anonymous, then outed himself online is beyond me.

The most frustrating part, and a good example of how taking away the “classical” education has failed children was a young retard complaining about the police scouring social networking sites to find offenders. He actually had the gall to say it was an invasion of his privacy for the police to look over his Bebo page to find out what crimes he has committed. Flabbergasting.

For me, it weakens the real destruction of our privacy when people think things like this are an invasion of privacy. It is like putting a full page advert in a newspaper and then complaining that people reading it are invading your privacy. Idiocy reigns.

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* Oddly I cant find this on the real BBC news so I may have dreamed it - but I hope not as I was driving at the time…

Popularity: 32% [?]

Popularity: 32% [?]

Almost a week ago, I mentioned the problems I have been having with BMS and how they keep phoning me every day from 01706713200. In a nutshell, Bury Marketing Sales (BMS) operate a call centre which basically tries to wear down customers of 3 (telephone provider) until they take up the “Offers.”

Reading round various websites (Google helps) and it seemed that the call centre staff had a tendency to be talkative, which was something I had never experienced. Every single time I answered the phone, all I heard was silence (with call centre background chat) and every time I missed the call, they left me a voice mail which was also about 10 - 20 seconds of silence. I found it quite strange.

On Monday, I had my daily call from 01706713200, I wasn’t too busy, so I answered it. Instead of saying “hello” though, I just accepted the call and waited for about five seconds. Instead of the normal silence, a call centre operator started talking and trying to sell me a new contract. Even when I pointed out my contract was pretty new and had 12 months left to run, he didn’t care. He basically wanted me to take out a second contract with them - when I said it made no sense to have two contracts on one phone with one sim card, he started saying about how different calls would be “routed automatically.” In the end, I tried to be a politely firm as possible but said no thanks. He finished with a “we will call you back to see if you’ve changed your mind.” Blimey.

They certainly kept to their word on this. I now get three or four calls a day. Normally about every two hours between 10am and 3pm. This time it is back to the silent treatment. When I answer there is no one there and when I don’t answer I get silent voice mails. It is like having my own pet stalker (without the fear).

Anyway, on the off chance that there is some one reading this who is in anyway related to marketing or sales: This is NOT the way to do it. At the moment, even if they were offering me the best deal in the world I would turn them down now. It has soured my opinion of 3 (who have apparently sold my details to BMS despite me explicitly saying “no” on the forms) beyond repair and there is no way I will renew my 3 contract when it runs out in two months. (I lied about the 12 months).

For those who are interested (and we get a lot of traffic here on this subject), the registered details of BMS (with Companies House) are:

Bury Marketing and Sales Ltd
47 Sefton Street
Bury
LANCASHIRE BL9 6PR
Company No. 05802107

Their contact emails are (sales) sales@bmsltd.org and (Customer Services) info@bmsltd.org - feel free to sell these addresses on…

If you are feeling aggrieved by their behaviour, you can also fax them on 0845 299 1672, but as this is not a free (or cheap rate) number, I would advise against my initial idea of faxing them mountains of crap.

I have read a few places online where people are suggesting legal action against either BMS (harassment) or 3 (breach of contract), so if you are trying either of these I would love to hear how you get on.

[tags]Bad Shop, BMS, 01706713200, Bury Marketing Sales, 3, Three, Telecoms, Cell Phone, Mobile Phone, Hutchinson 3g, Hutchinson, Bad Privacy, Breach of Contract, Privacy, Consent, Marketing, Bury, Telephone Preference Service, TPS, Rochdale, Company Information, Email Addresses, N Bhatti, Society[/tags]

Popularity: 44% [?]

Popularity: 44% [?]

Great concept. with some really funny pages on the Department of Social Scrutiny with such gems as the ID Application Forms pages You can click on each form to get the full detail.

Just go there. Don’t make me quote whole pages from it, please.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Popularity: 27% [?]

The very words “privacy statement” have a hypnotic effect. You see them, click “Yes, Ok I’ve read it” to get to the next bit…… There may be some inbuilt mental process that protects the brain from damage by shutting it off in the presence of the small print on things like loan agreements, the introductory bits of software and so on.

I happen to have read one by accident trying to find out if there was a (potentially illusory) Microsoft product named WI. Googling just took me to the Wisconsin Microsoft Developer’s network, which wouldn’t let me go any further without agreeing to the privacy statement.

Props to Microsoft here, because you can actually read the provisions - indeed you would have to if you decide to go through the gateway. Not having any reason to join the Wisconsin Developer Network - apart from sheer nosiness and apparently a temporary failure of my low boredom threshhold - I obviously didnt.

However, the contents come as a bit of a shock. Here’s an extract:

Collection of your Personal Information
WI Microsoft Technical Community collects personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address or telephone number. WI Microsoft Technical Community also collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.
There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by WI Microsoft Technical Community. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring Web site addresses. ……

So, to join that particular developer community you just hand over information so far beyond the expected IP and referrer as to be on another level.

You might think “so what”? I hope the BBC article about the private detective agency crackers gives you a little pause.

In which case it may be a good idea to read the privacy statements now and again. ZZZZZZ ZZZZZ

Popularity: 24% [?]

Popularity: 24% [?]