It was sent out inside the December edition of the (useless) Sky magazine and, essentially, resets the options to 'we can give your information to whoever we choose' even if you have previously told them they can't do that.
The relevant wording on the A5-sized sheet is:
Quote:How information we hold about you can be used
By continuing to be a customer, you agree that any member of the BSKYB group, which includes Marketing Contributions Ltd and any company which may succeed our businesses, may use and share the information you provide and other information we hold about you for account management, market research and the marketing of Sky's and third parties' products and services. This may include contact you by post, telephone, email or SMS unless you tell us you don't want to be contacted in any of these ways by calling us on 08702 40 40 40.
We may also share such information with credit reference agencies and other companies including for use in credit decisions, for fraud prevention and to pursue debtors.
If you benefited from an interactive discount contract from Marketing Contributions Ltd, (i.e. to get a free dish and box), Marketing Contributions Ltd can also use and share your information and information about your Digital Satellite System, with those companies that offer Interactive Services and those companies may use your personal details for marketing and market research purposes relating to both these Interactive Services and associated products.
Information held by the Sky group about you may also be shared with other companies outside the group, including for sales, marketing and market research purposes by such companies, unless you indicate you wish to be excluded from such uses by contacting us on 08702 40 40 40.
Being ant-0870, I emailed
brian.sullivan@bskyb.com:
Quote:Dear Mr. Sullivan,
I was astonished to receive notification of the changes to Sky's Privacy Policy recently (see below).
This message is to advise you that I do not agree to any 'sharing' of my information with any other parties now or at any time in the future.
Please acknowledge receipt of this instruction.
After 4 days, I received a reply from
mysky@bskyb.com:
Quote:Dear Heinz
Customer Account Number: 1234567891234
Thank you for your email regarding the removal of the marketing indicators.
As requested I can confirm that we have taken the necessary action and can assure you that no information will be shared.
I trust this information has been helpful. Should you require any further assistance on this matter please contact the above email address and we will be happy to help.
Kind Regards
Alicia Bryce
Customer Relations Team
It appears they've had a fair few complaints though and are now publishing a more direct email address:
dpoffice@bskyb.com