Personal phone data still misused
Selina Mitchell
OCTOBER 11, 2005

AUSTRALIA'S telco and media watchdog is yet to halt what it has
described as the misuse of a massive database of Australians' 
personal information, two years after raising concerns over abuse 
of the database.

The Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) contains the personal
contact information for every Australian who has any type of telephone
connection - listed or unlisted, business or personal, fixed line or
mobile.

According to telecommunications regulations, the information, updated
every 24 hours, is collected to provide directory services, emergency
services and law enforcement bodies with contact information.

But the data is highly prized by direct marketers and companies who
want to ensure they have correct information for people on their own
databases.

Companies licensed as Directory Providers are using the IPND
information to clean data for third parties, provide them with
previously unknown phone numbers or addresses, and update demographic
profile data. 

[...]

Electronic Frontiers Australia executive director Irene Graham said
she was concerned that after highlighting the abuse, the ACMA might
now weaken the standard.

"The ACA was right: the IPND should not be used for any data matching 
- it is not what the IPND is for," Ms Graham said.

"What's taking so long - there seems to be too much willingness to let
business do whatever it wants without regard for consumer rights.

"This is not a voluntary database, the information must be collected
by law, and people have no control about what goes in there."

A spokesman for the ACMA would only say the organisation had
consistently identified weaknesses in the code of practice, and 
that it was inconsistent with regulations.

One company that advertises data washing services using IPND data 
- for 15c an item - is DataTools.

It sends its requests to IPND license holder Pacific Micromarketing
who washes the data against the IPND and sends it back to DataTools,
who then passes it back to its client. 

[...]

The Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) is fighting the
current draft standard, which would stop data users from using a
public number directory to verify customer contact information and
compare it with or update another customer contact database; build 
or maintain another customer contact database; or produce a public 
number directory that contains a reverse search function.

ADMA said data verification, using the IPND data, is part of producing
a Public Number Directory, and therefore allowed under the relevant
regulations. 


Full article at "The Australian IT"
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/
0,7204,16876484%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html


Cheers, Steve..

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