Call for probe into jail contact centres

The Information Commissioner’s Office is being urged to launch a formal investigation into the call centre being run out of Oakwood jail, following claims prisoners are making sales calls under the guise of lifestyle surveys.
The practice, known as sugging – “selling under the guise of research” – is not illegal but can lead to nuisance calls.
The Market Research Society has requested an investigation under an agreement made between the MRS, the ICO and Ofcom in June 2013 whereby the society would report instances of suspected sugging in an attempt to combat nuisance calls.
G4S, the company which runs Oakwood, has repeatedly denied prisoners are engaged in “any activity which might constitute sugging”.
In a recent letter to MRS, G4S’s managing director for custodial and detention services Jerry Petherick said prisoners are conducting “a consumer lifestyle survey – a series of simple questions about people’s spending choices across a range of areas (including utilities, insurance and pensions) on behalf of our commercial partner, a data collection specialist”.
However, the MRS responded that: “So called ‘lifestyle surveys’ are labels often used to lead respondents into the mistaken belief that the survey is genuine market research.
“The respondent is unaware that his or her information is being used by a commercial third party to generate sales leads, or even being sold on to a further commercial third party to exploit.”
It was first revealed last month that inmates at Oakwood, near Wolverhampton, and Drake Hall, in Staffs, were carrying out market research for insurance firms. The Ministry of Justice said that all workers have to pass a risk assessment and are subject to strict security measures. In addition, they do not have access to any sensitive information about the people they are calling. The pilot may be rolled out further if successful.

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