Rise of 'sex pest texts' fuels ICO data security warning

Credit: Feodora Chiosea

UK businesses are being urged to tighten up their data security and governance procedures after a rise of “over-friendly customer service”, with customer-facing staff using personal details given to a company to badger customers for sex.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has called for recipients of such texts to come forward to help it gather evidence about the scale of the problem after its own research revealed almost one in three people aged 18 to 34 have been targeted after giving their personal data to a business.

It also showed that 66% of consumers believe it is morally wrong to use personal details given for business purposes to contact someone out of a business context, although whether that means 34% think it is fair game is not clear.

The ICO claims it is planning to contact some of the largest customer-facing employers in the country to remind them that unauthorised use of personal information is illegal.

In one recent case, 23-year-old airline passenger Hannah Smethurst received an unsolicited WhatsApp message from a contractor working for Etihad Airways, who had accessed her number through the airline’s system, as she was waiting to board a flight.

She told the Mirror: “I was at Abu Dhabi Airport when I received a text message from an unknown foreign number. I was taken aback by it. It was terrifying being alone.

The first message read: “Heyyyy, I have seen you from abudhabi [smiley face emoji]”, to which Hannah replied: “How did you get this number?” The man responded, “Sorryyy,” to which Hannah asked again, “How did you get my number?”, and then he admitted: “I searched u in the system.”

Smethurt described the experience as “terrifying” and said it made her feel “really vulnerable”. The contractor has since been dismissed.

The phenomenon is hardly new, however. As far back as 2015, Vodafone suspended a contact centre agent who started bombarding a Manchester woman with flirty texts after she phoned in to complain about her bill. He referred to himself as her “future hubby” and promised to buy her shoes when they met.

ICO deputy commissioner of regulatory policy Emily Keaney said: “People have the right to order a pizza or give their email for a receipt or have shopping delivered without then being asked for sex or a date a little while later. They have a right to know that when they hand over their personal information that it will not then be used in ways that they would not be comfortable with.

“If you are running a customer-facing business, you have a responsibility to protect the data of your customers, including from your employees misusing it.”

Consumers can report unwanted contact to the ICO, although the form is not flagged on the homepage or given any prominence.