You know how you have to provide 100 Points of ID to apply for a phone plan, credit card or internet connection? Telstra is using that data not just to check your credit eligibility, but also to send you targeted ads, according to a new report.
You’ve probably experienced it at most telcos: you apply for a plan, and to double check you’re ok to pay it, the carrier checks your credit score by inputting your driver licence info, as well as a secondary form of ID such as a credit card or passport.
Reportedly, Telstra is using that data not just to check your credit score, but also to send you targeted advertising via its advertising network, MCN.
Telstra is reportedly storing 8.5 million customer IDs in order to market to customers better. MCN says that IDs are matched to a customers phone number or IP address, and customers are then served specific ads based on incredibly accurate date of birth and address information.
Despite MCN telling this to The Australian, Telstra says it isn’t handing over detailed ID info for marketing purposes, qualifying that by adding that only postcodes and other basic information are provided. Information like detailed names and addresses are reportedly being redacted, according to Telstra.
Keeping a container of customer IDs like Driver Licences, Passports and credit cards is one of the worst ideas in the long, sad history of bad ideas. Not only is it using details in a way customers aren’t exactly consenting to, it’s also ripe to breach depending on how it’s stored.
Telstra already has a boatload of information about its customers anyway. The Siebel CRM system can be used to record when a customer inquires about the price of a product, the availability to a particular plan or the querying of a bill, so why does Telstra need to target customers further with their ID?
Read more here.