Cable Forum - View Single Post - Virgin Media Phorm Webwise Adverts [Updated: See Post No. 1, 77, 102 & 797]

Wild Oscar · 21-04-2008, 17:32

Afternoon all .. just thought I'd chime in here!

I've been following this thread for a couple of weeks now I suppose .. first I have to say a big thank you to certain folks who are doing a fantastic job here, especially Alexander for his magnificent efforts and others such as OF1975, Portly_Giraffe, Florence, dav ... many more too (sorry if I've missed anybody out, but you know who you are!!)

I've been posting at various forums I frequent as I go around, spreading the word .. some people seem to be quite happy, thinking with a tweak here or there everything will be fine .. completely missing the main point! .. sad really ..

Yesterday I used the writetothem.com site to send a message to both my local councilors and MP .. and guess what!! .. got this in the mail this morning

.................................................. ..................................
Thank you for your email to my office, received yesterday.

I wanted to drop you a short note to let you know that I have raised this issue with John Hutton, the Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform and I am hopeful that John will be in a position to reply very soon.

It’s obviously quite a complicated issue and I have to admit it’s not something that I am all that familiar with!
Nonetheless, I will certainly chase it up for you and see what response we can get. Recent problems at HMRC et al really ought to be a wake up call to everyone about data security, so you’re absolutely right to raise the issue. The idea of one company having unlimited access to such huge amounts of potentially sensitive data is terrifying. We let people order prescriptions online, bank online, buy a house, sell a car; it seems madness to potentially expose these details to a private operation that exists simply to sell online advertising.

Please rest assured that I will be in touch when I receive a reply from John Hutton or another member of his ministerial team. BERR are not always the quickest department to reply, I’m afraid, so if you haven’t heard back in a few weeks then please let me know and I will give them a push.

Thanks again for getting in touch. I look forward to receiving (and hopefully understanding!) John Hutton’s reply.

Yours Sincerely,

Paul Clark MP
.................................................. ................

Paul Clark is not only our MP here in Gillingham, Kent .. he is also Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ed Balls, MP, the new Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families .. so there may be another avenue of approach there! .. hats off to Paul for possibly the speediest reply from a minister ever!!

21-04-2008, 17:32	#4297
Wild Oscar cf.addict Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 330	Re: Virgin Media Phorm Webwise Adverts [Updated: See Post No. 1, 77, 102 & 797] Afternoon all .. just thought I'd chime in here! I've been following this thread for a couple of weeks now I suppose .. first I have to say a big thank you to certain folks who are doing a fantastic job here, especially Alexander for his magnificent efforts and others such as OF1975, Portly_Giraffe, Florence, dav ... many more too (sorry if I've missed anybody out, but you know who you are!!) I've been posting at various forums I frequent as I go around, spreading the word .. some people seem to be quite happy, thinking with a tweak here or there everything will be fine .. completely missing the main point! .. sad really .. Yesterday I used the writetothem.com site to send a message to both my local councilors and MP .. and guess what!! .. got this in the mail this morning .................................................. .................................. Thank you for your email to my office, received yesterday. I wanted to drop you a short note to let you know that I have raised this issue with John Hutton, the Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform and I am hopeful that John will be in a position to reply very soon. It’s obviously quite a complicated issue and I have to admit it’s not something that I am all that familiar with! Nonetheless, I will certainly chase it up for you and see what response we can get. Recent problems at HMRC et al really ought to be a wake up call to everyone about data security, so you’re absolutely right to raise the issue. The idea of one company having unlimited access to such huge amounts of potentially sensitive data is terrifying. We let people order prescriptions online, bank online, buy a house, sell a car; it seems madness to potentially expose these details to a private operation that exists simply to sell online advertising. Please rest assured that I will be in touch when I receive a reply from John Hutton or another member of his ministerial team. BERR are not always the quickest department to reply, I’m afraid, so if you haven’t heard back in a few weeks then please let me know and I will give them a push. Thanks again for getting in touch. I look forward to receiving (and hopefully understanding!) John Hutton’s reply. Yours Sincerely, Paul Clark MP .................................................. ................ Paul Clark is not only our MP here in Gillingham, Kent .. he is also Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ed Balls, MP, the new Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families .. so there may be another avenue of approach there! .. hats off to Paul for possibly the speediest reply from a minister ever!!