Stop leaking our details

WE are told time and again that our personal data is worth its weight in gold, and warned not to share it too widely for fear of it landing in the wrong hands.

But how are we supposed to keep it safe when it’s becoming almost impossible to keep track of who has access to it?

Buy anything online and firms will promise to send you a host of discounts if you simply tick a box giving them permission to share your details with third parties.

Say ‘yes’ and off go your name, phone number, email address, dress size, favourite flavour of ice cream and goodness knows what else to be circulated who knows where.

Even High Street stores now ask for your email address to send you an e-receipt, instead of giving you a paper one, and encourage you to sign up for their mobile apps.

New, stricter data protection rules introduced last year were supposed to ensure that firms share our personal information only when they have our express permission. But how can we police this? as we reveal today on page 37, we don’t always know with whom our data is shared.

In kevin Johnson’s case, he had no idea that his car insurer would share his details with numerous other companies after he made a claim. and, while this was for the legitimate purpose of handling his claim, at some point something obviously went amiss.

It can’t be a coincidence that the day after he reported a prang in a car park, he began to be bombarded with around 100 nuisance calls from accident claims firms. So his data must have been sold, hacked or mistakenly sent to the wrong place.

yet, even though it is clear a data leak occurred, it is impossible for kevin to lay the blame at any one door. It could have happened at numerous points down the line and no one is taking responsibility.

the only thing we know for sure is that now his information is out there, it will almost certainly be sold on, again and again.

regulators must do more to help us claw back control of our data. If they don’t, the nuisance calls, emails and texts will never cease.

Victory!

IN Saturday’S daily Mail, we revealed that banks have finally agreed to refund fraud victims in cases where neither they nor the customer is to blame.

It is brilliant news for victims and a major victory for our Stop the Bank Scammers campaign.

However, it is vital that banks finalise plans for how the fund will work as swiftly as possible.

the scheme will not be retrospective, so, until it is in place, victims will continue to lose lifechanging sums of money every day, with no hope of getting it back.

One way banks are considering funding the reimbursement pot is through a levy on each transaction, which banks would pay initially.

If this plan is chosen, banks must pledge not to make customers shoulder these fees in the future.

Britain’s biggest building society, Nationwide, has already promised not to pass on the cost to its members. Its chief of products, Chris rhodes, tells Money Mail: ‘We don’t believe our members should pay the costs for our share.’

Let’s hope banks follow its lead.

Scam alert

SPEAKING of scams, reader Monica wrote to highlight one I had not heard of before. She says she received three calls claiming her washing machine guarantee had expired and she needed to pay £79 over the phone to renew it.

yet, when she went into Currys, she discovered the guarantee had four more years left. Fortunately, Monica had refused to give out her card details before checking.

But she says: ‘If I had read in the Mail about these scams, I would have been more prepared, as they often phone early morning, around 8.30am. Would it be asking too much for you to suggest a scam contact for us to email so you can tell everyone about them?’ Excellent idea — please email

fraud@dailymail.co.uk and we’ll do our best to warn you about the latest cons.