Category: information

Crackdown by Information Commissioner

hand-155662_640Welcoming recent government changes, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said:
“The rules around marketing calls have been a licence for spammers and scammers, and people are sick of them. This law change gives consumers the chance to fight back.
“We still need people to report these calls to us, but now we can use those complaints to better target the companies behind this nuisance.”
Electronic marketing, including marketing calls and texts, are covered by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). The regulations require organisations to have an individual’s consent to make automated marketing calls or send marketing texts to that person.

For live marketing calls, the organisation must not contact people that have opted out of receiving them; most commonly by registering with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).
The Information Commissioners Office currently has the power to issue penalties of up to £500,000 if able to prove that the marketing calls or messages caused, or had the potential to cause, ‘substantial damage or distress’. The ICO has called for this bar to be lowered to make it easier to fine companies who are breaching the regulations but who would currently not meet this statutory bar.
The changes which came into effect on 6 April 2015.
1. Spam texters held to account
Any company sending you a marketing text without your permission is already breaking the law. As it stands, the law requires the ICO to prove ‘substantial harm or substantial distress’ and now this threshold has been reduced. Making it easier for ICO to make fines stick should create more of a deterrent, and that would lower how many nuisance messages we all get.
2. Companies will need to play by the rules
It’s a myth that nuisance calls are all from a handful of bad guys. In September, the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) received over 2,000 complaints about nuisance calls. Of those, 38 companies featured in more than ten complaints. That suggests they’re probably breaking the law, but not in a way serious enough for the ICO to be able to fine them.
3. More fines means fewer calls and texts
While fines for nuisance calls and texts are relatively new, recent independent analysis of those Data Protection Act fines showed that 60 per cent of organisations had looked to improve their compliance with the law after a company in their sector was fined. More fines for companies making nuisance calls and sending spam texts should have the same affect.
4. People complaining will be more important than ever
The ICO received 161,720 concerns about nuisance calls and texts in 2015. That’s a lot of people who want to see us take action, and their complaints have meant the ICO has been able to raid offices and call centres, prosecute people and issue fines. You can report a nuisance call or a spam text to the ICO online.
Have these changes proved worthwhile?
Since the change in the law was introduced, the ICO has issued fines totalling more than £2 million compared with just £360,000 during the previous 12 months.
So that’s a YES

One Third of People Fail on Basic Security . Do You?

castle-1290860_640

Millions of people in the UK are failing to take basic steps such as  redirecting their mail deliveries, or updating their computer software to protect their identities from criminals, a new survey shows.

One in four UK adults – 12.275 million people – is believed to have fallen victim to identity crime losing on average £1200 each, with total losses to the UK adult population estimated to be £3.3 billion.

Simon Dukes, Chief Executive of Cifas said: “Every day across the UK, people are leaving themselves vulnerable to fraud by failing to take simple steps to protect their identities. The good news is that there is so much more we could all do to make a fraudster’s job more difficult. We know that people lead increasingly demanding and busy lives, with many people reporting password fatigue or struggling to find the time to update their software securely and regularly. We need to change the way we think about our identities and prioritise protecting them.

Some simple steps to protect your identity

  1. Personal Information

Only give your personal information to a caller or online if you are sure of who you’re dealing with and why they need the information.

Don’t throw documents with your personal details on into the bin – shred them.

2. Passwords

Make sure your passwords cannot be guessed. Include capital letters, numbers and punctuation marks in the password.

Use multiple passwords. Have more than one password for online accounts so that if it’s cracked – thieves will not be able to gain access to all of your accounts.

3. Social Media

Exclude important personal information from your social media profiles

Details like your phone number, address, children’s age or school can all present ways for hackers to glean more knowledge. On Facebook, that means culling any ‘friends’ you don’t know, minimising the details in your ‘About Me’ section and being selective about hitting the ‘like’ button, all of which will make you harder to find – particularly when Facebook’s new search tool, Graph Search, is rolled out in the UK.

Check your social media privacy settings

Change all Facebook settings to “Friends Only” for all posts for a more secure profile. Facebook often makes changes to these settings and, when it does so, can even reset your secure settings.

4. Phone

Check your phone’s privacy settings. Turning your GPS location settings to “off” can keep your family’s whereabouts private.

5. Phishing

Watch out for ‘phishing’ emails

Spam email is getting more and more sophisticated. Never respond to any emails with account info or passwords. Banks will never ever ask for your information in this way. If in doubt, call the bank directly to check or, better still, delete the email.

6. Secure Payment

Check for the https://

Before entering payment details into any website, check the web address has an ‘s’ ( which stands for secure) after the http. If it doesn’t, don’t use it

7. WI-FI

Keep your communications networks secure. Password protect your Wi-Fi so hackers in the local area can’t use your connection to carry out malicious activity.9.

8. Bank Statements and Credit Card Statements

Keep a close eye on your bank statements and if possible cross check each item on the statement

Also check your credit card bills in case small payments exist that you didn’t authorise

STAY SAFE

[source:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/10509121/10-ways-to-protect-your-online-identity.html]

The Not With My Name Campaign

face-1370955_640The City of London Police and partners launched the ‘Not With My Name’ campaign to target the growing threat of identity crime in the UK.

One in four UK adults – 12.275 million people – are believed to have fallen victim to identity crime losing on average £1,200 each, with total losses to the UK adult population estimated to be £3.3 billion over recent years.

The campaign urged people to protect their personal information by creating safe passwords, protecting internet devices, rejecting unsolicited phone calls and emails, and safely storing and disposing of letters.

Online security – 1 in 3 do not regularly update their firewall or antivirus software;

Social media –1 in 3 do not limit the amount of information they share on social media;

Safe disposal of documents – 1 in 3 of people do not shred letters before throwing them away.

The ‘Not With My Name’ campaign shares tips to raise awareness and help people protect their identities across the country, with the campaign being supported by 35 local police forces and organisations that include Get Safe Online, Cifas, FFA UK, Age UK and Experian.

A key part of the campaign is being delivered across police force Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Individuals and businesses that have fallen victim to online fraud should report this to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk.

The tips to protect yourself from identity fraud are:

Tip 1: Be careful who you give your personal information to and how

Tip 2: Make it as difficult as possible to crack your personal passwords

Tip 3: Always securely store  or destroy personal documents

Tip 4: Don’t respond to unsolicited phone calls or emails

Tip 5: Protect your personal devices

For further information, go to http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/resources-and-campaigns/not-with-my-name

Website: I Keep Safe

ikeepsafe_logo

www.ikeepsafe.org     Twitter: @ikeepsafe

The Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe), established in 2005, is an American non-profit international alliance of more than 100 policy leaders, educators, law enforcement members, technology experts, public health experts and advocates.

iKeepSafe tracks global trends and issues surrounding digitally connected products and their affect on children. This research drives the continuous creation of positive resources for parents, educators and policymakers who teach youths how to use new media devices and platforms in safe and healthy ways.

iKeepSafe has created a collection of products and tools used to affect a global society of digital citizens:

  • Digital Citizenship C3MatrixTM—a tool designed to assist educators in integrating the concepts of cybersafety, security and ethics into current teaching..
  • Faux Paw the Techno Cat®—a series of educational books and animated DVDs dealing with topics like online safety, cyberbullying, responsible downloading, and balancing screen time with real life.
  • Google Digital Literacy Tour–interactive workshops helping students, teachers, and parents learn, through hands-on scenario activities, how to steer clear of cyber tricks and be responsible digital citizens.
  • iKeepCurrent TM –a weekly email newsletter using current events and news stories to build digital citizenship public awareness content, curricula and professional development .
  • iKeepSafe Generation SafeTM –the only product that helps schools comprehensively navigate through their digital environments through professional development, self assessment and incident response tools.

IKeepSafe is a useful resource for educators.

www.ikeepsafe.org

Say No to 0870 Numbers

saynoto0870_logo

When you call an 084 or 087 number you will charged extra and that extra goes to the telecoms provider and the owner of the number called.  This is expected for some services such as chat-lines, recorded information lines and entertainment services such as voting on a TV show, but it is abused by some organisations, customer service lines,  sales lines, government departments, health services and financial services who would not be expected to be making money from your calls.

This website (www.saynoto0870.com) helps you find alternative inclusive or geographic rate 01, 02 or 03 numbers or free 080 numbers to call those businesses and organisations.

Calls to 084 and 087 numbers incur both an Access Charge of up to 15p per minute from landlines or up to 45p per minute from mobiles and a Service Charge of up to 7p per minute for 084 numbers or up to 13p per minute for 087 numbers. However, callls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers are usually inclusive within a call plan or else charged at “geographic rate”. Calls to 080 numbers are free from landlines and (from 1 July 2015) free from mobiles.

Since 2009, BT and some other phone providers have included calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers in their call plans, but this only applies to certain packages or at certain times of the day. Calls to other 084 and 087 numbers are excluded.

Many companies also advertise a separate number that can be used when calling them from abroad. This usually begins in the format +44 1 or +44 2. There is usually nothing to stop you using this number from the UK (as it is a normal rate telephone call), and will be included in any inclusive minutes provided by your landline or mobile phone provider. In some cases, however, you may need to withhold your caller number  in order to make the connection.

This site is all about listing the inclusive, geographic rate and free numbers, thereby saving you money. To get started and find a particular number, please click on the ‘Search to find an alternative number’ link at the top of the page. You can search by telephone number or by company name.

A lot of companies and organisations such as Virgin Trains and National express  use these chargeable phone numbers to make money from you and that’s wrong unless they are providing a service you are expecting to pay for.

Many organisations have changed to 03 or 080 numbers but you still need to be careful of the costs of calling, especially from a mobile phone.

For Irish callers, there is a similar website http://www.saynoto1890.com/ to help you avoid the premium rate costs.


Say NO to 0870

The Danger of Online Pharmacies

drug-1070943_640Self-diagnosing
Medical professionals receive extensive training and understand the effects of drugs in single use or in combinations.

It is dangerous for anyone to self-diagnose, look up drugs on the Internet then buy from unregulated online Pharmacies. DO NOT put your health at risk in this manner.

The Pharmacies that sell prescription drugs without a prescription are acting illegally.
Online Pharmacies
If you have a valid prescription, it may be tempting to save money by buying from an online pharmacy, but  medicines should not be seen as regular consumer products and fake medicines can cause real harm to your health.

It can be difficult to distinguish between registered online pharmacies and other commercial websites. The General Pharmaceutical Council operates an internet pharmacy logo scheme to identify legitimate online pharmacies so that you can be sure you are purchasing safe and genuine medicines online.

Check for the internet pharmacy logo when buying medicine online.

You can also check the registration status of the pharmacist by looking for the name and address of the pharmacy operating the website, as it should be connected to a “bricks and mortar” pharmacy.

Medicine sold from disreputable websites can be poor quality at best and dangerous at worst. What you receive in the post could be counterfeit, substandard or unapproved new drugs, which can put your safety at risk.

And never reply to spam emails offering cheap drugs. These are mostly scams.

Drugs from an unregistered website could also be dangerous to your health because they may be out-of-date, diluted or fake.

Always get your medicine from a pharmacy or a reputable outlet.

Refer to the NHS Choices website for further information

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/pharmacists/Pages/internet-drugs.aspx