
The public has a right to know, say silicon.com readers
By Steve Ranger
Published: 2 May 2006 17:10 GMT
Companies that suffer security breaches in which customer data is put at risk should be publicly named, according to silicon.com readers.
Last week silicon.com revealed that a potential security breach at a UK-based online retailer is being investigated and has led to thousands of MasterCard and Visa holders having their credit cards cancelled.
And now silicon.com readers - many of them card holders who have been affected - are calling for the retailer's name to be made public.
A reader - among those to have their card replaced - said: "As one of those 4,000 affected, I believe that if there is no doubt as to where the data originated then we should be made aware of that fact."
Another anonymous reader added: "It is not acceptable for the name of the retailer to be kept secret. The public have a right to know."
A marketing director called Iain pointed out that US companies have different rules to follow: "If this happened in [the] US, the retailer would be exposed and hit with hefty PR and financial costs. Not much point in having Data Protection laws if they only generate a slap on the wrist."
Stuart Horner, a managing director from Sheffield, said "I fully agree that the retailer should be named - if only to protect future users of their site. I will be reviewing my use of internet retailers in the future."
In the UK companies are not required to go public with data breaches, in contrast to California - and soon possibly the whole of the US - where legislation requires them to do so.
A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said there is nothing in the Data Protection Act to require a company to inform either its customers or the ICO if a data breach has occurred but added: "If a company has a breach then it would help us if they let us know... In terms of us taking action, if we receive a complaint we will investigate in the normal way."
Finding the name of the etailer could be quite eas...
Anonymous
Their must be something that could be done to publ...
Angus Doyle
Now that you may have found the name of the etaile...
Anonymous
This case get publicity because it involves an onl...
Anonymous
I for one would like to know who it is in order to...
chris ramsay
Our client, a highly successful retailer with an ambitious agenda, is keen to take on a new Trade Data Intelligence Analyst to help them fully ...
SAP Data Protection Act Gap Analysis Consultant required for a short term project working within the public sector. Consider how well the current ...
Areas of Responsibility - Develop and implement a knowledge management strategy to ensure that information resources are efficiently utilised and ...
Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright © 2008 CBS Interactive Limited. All rights reserved. Top of page
Tim Ferguson Exclusive: Former MySQL boss Marten Mickos talks open source Why Microsoft could become one of the "biggest friends of open source" and why Oracle getting its hands on MySQL could be "one of the biggest open source coups ever"...
Naked CIO Naked CIO: Cloud computing more expensive than we thought? Smart IT leaders will examine the impact of how they pay for tech