Noticed this letter in yesterday's Independent. Couldn't see it mentioned here.
Privacy? What have you got to hide?
Sir: I have been a dissatisfied Virgin Media customer for about 18 months. Since I am about to move house, I contacted the Virgin Media customer-service centre to request the cancellation of my broadband service. The customer service representative gave me the standard spiel: "Can I ask why you don't want to continue your subscription – we can move your service to your new address" and so on. I did not want to get into my reasons for leaving, but he was very insistent. In the end, I gave in and told him that I objected to Virgin Media's adoption of the controversial web-tracking technology known as Phorm/Webwise/OIX.
His response was predictable: "I don't think you understand this properly, let me explain...", to which I replied that not only was I fully aware of the inner workings of the technology (being an IT professional), but I objected to it on principle and saw it as a breach of my privacy.
His response was unbelievable. He said: "So, have you got something to hide then, Tom?"
After a pause, I asked whether he was insinuating that I was a terrorist or a paedophile, to which he replied "Well, it's pretty clear you have something to hide."
I am pursuing this matter with Virgin Media and have been assured by a manager that this was a one-off incident. I am slightly suspicious of this assertion, however, as call-centre employees are trained to follow scripts and to respond to questions in specific ways.
Tom Cunliffe
Oxford
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion...an-821624.html