Licence-fee dodgers able to use fake login details on iplayer, admits BBC
Corporation admits it is relying on viewers’ online honesty in its attempts to thwart evaders
THE BBC has admitted that it is powerless to stop people logging on to the iplayer with fake details, so thwarting the corporation’s attempts to crack down on licence-fee evaders.
Anyone wishing to access BBC television and radio programmes on the catch-up service must now provide an email address, date of birth and postcode. While the stated aim is to offer a more “personalised service” – programmes tailored to age, for example – it is also a means of enforcing the licence fee.
The corporation shares the details with TV Licensing, and Andrew Scott, the executive overseeing the iplayer changes, said in May: “The information you provide us with can help TV Licensing ensure that people are abiding by the law and minimise licence fee evasion. By matching email addresses we may be able to identify someone who has told us they don’t need a TV licence while at the same time having signed in and watched iplayer.
“So we will now use this alongside our existing enforcement techniques to help identify people who are watching licence fee-funded content without a licence.”
TV Licensing will tally up the email addresses supplied by the BBC with its own records. However, there is nothing to stop anyone setting up a new email address, using a fake date of birth or entering somebody else’s postcode.
A BBC said it was relying on people’s honesty – although those who seek to evade the licence fee are unlikely to display that particular trait.
A spokesman said: “The overwhelming majority of people are honest and can understand the benefits of providing us with a basic level of information so they get a better, personalised BBC.
“We’ve always been clear there’s nothing sinister in what we’re doing – it’s about giving people the very best service and millions are already benefiting from this.” Until last September, a television licence was required only for those who watched or recorded live programming. The £147 licence is now required for catch-up viewing too, after the corporation successfully lobbied the government to change the law.
The BBC has insisted it is not using “mass surveillance techniques” or asking internet providers for IP addresses, and has promised to be “really transparent” about how it uses people’s data.
“The idea of personalised content, already used by Netflix and others, is to offer a website home page filled with recommendations for programmes you might like. By finding out more about you and what you like we can make better content, make it more relevant, and bring it to you more effectively,” the BBC said.