Do plus.net leak information to the BBC?

[#1]

So, this is not an accusation, but rather a question that I'd like an honest answer to.

I'm with Plus.net and have been sometime, I don't watch TV and therefore I do not have a TV License, however I have received an email from TV licensing today stating that I have been using iPlayer at this address over the past few weekends.

I have logged into my BBC iPlayer account and the address hasn't been updated since I have moved house, however. the email from the BBC state that I've been using iPlayer at my current address (new postcode within their email)

This leads me to believe, it's either
a) A totally speculative email, not unlike the letters we all receive.
b) Plus.net feed the BBC information about internet use.

I just find it interesting that the email from the BBC contains information pertaining to an address which isn't linked in any way to my iPlayer account and it's not like they can get an address from an IP address that's logged into the service.

The chap that owns the house is back from sea (he's usually away about 10 months of the year) and I will check to see if he has used it, however the email is addressed to myself, not him. There's the possibility that he might have used iPlayer, however it doesn't explain them emailing me, with my new address even when the iPlayer account still has the old postcode.

[#2]

update: he doesn't use the BBC iPlayer service.

I'm assuming it's just another snakey attempt at trying to get people to sign up to a license they don't need.

[#3]

Hi @krs360

Thanks for getting in touch. I can confirm that we 100% do not share your information with any 3rd party that isn't relevant to the immediate support and maintenance of your account (for example, we would share your account information with BT Wholesale if we had to raise a fault on your behalf).

I myself get lots of emails from "TV Licensing" despite having a valid TV license - it's safe for you to ignore these and continue to use your service without concern.

Best wishes

Dave

[#4]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Fibre to Everything Else  

[#5]

Actually, a licence is need to use iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/tvlicence

I misread

[#6]

Huh?
No one said that you don’t need one if you watch iplayer. Never mind, I see you edited your post.
I figured maybe he’d possibly used it but he hasn’t. It’s just a speculative attempt by the BBC to try and make people sign up for licenses they don’t need.

[#7]

I had an email from "UK TV Licensing" today saying my payment had failed. My emails come in plain text, so could see straight away the dodgy link they wanted me to pay on. Seem TV is the latest scam!

Mark

[#8]

If an address in the UK does not have a TV Licence it will automatically be targeted by TV Licencing who automatically assume you are watching TV without a licence. they will prod & poke send letters & emails and then start sending people from Capita round to your house.

Back in the 70's they used to advertise that they had a fleet of TV detector vans with an Arial on top, which they said contained equipment that could detect when a TV was being used in a house. What it actually had was a bloke in the back with a list of addresses that didn't have a licence. They would then sit in a street and watch for the flicker of a TV from properties without a Licence.

I would hope no Internet Provider is sharing our data with anyone, that would be a serious breach of data protection. But there is a scam on the go at the moment an email telling people their TV Licence payment has failed, the link takes you to a fake TV licence page. One chap was in the news recently, he put his card details in and they emptied his account.

[#9]

Hello to everyone that replied.

Dave, I know they used to spend millions, something like £5 in previous years sending out speculative letters. I'm guessing email is cheaper.

The thing that concerned me is that the email contained my full name and current address, inclusive of postcode. Upon checking my old iPlayer account it's still linked to my old address.

I did email the BBC about this and they claim it's a bogus email, which is total rubbish as I checked the headers of the email. The only possible thing I can imagine is that I MIGHT have given them my details when calling to say that I don't need a license at this address and they've decided to spam everyone with speculative emails to try and generate more revenue by scaring people.

[#10]

Don't get me started about the TV Tax people .. OK I will now a bit.

For the OP, it is possible you've bought some TV receiving equipment in which case you would have had to provided your address, whether it be delivery or you picked it up in person. Then they moan you haven't paid the Tax. Of course you could provide a false address, not that I would suggest doing something illegal on here 

When I were a student, that was fun and games. We paid the tax for the whole flat, and someone had previously registered a TV Tax address, as the room number. So it has come up on their system as a different address. When I politely told them we've already paid the tax for the flat, they tried it on and said "Because it is a separate tenancy and the rooms have separate locks, each five of you need a separate license".

The thing is the person in room 5 didn't have a TV, so technically I sent the form back and said "There is no TV at this address". Well it was true?

[#11]

---

@Alex wrote:

Don't get me started about the TV Tax people .. OK I will now a bit.

For the OP, it is possible you've bought some TV receiving equipment in which case you would have had to provided your address, whether it be delivery or you picked it up in person. Then they moan you haven't paid the Tax. Of course you could provide a false address, not that I would suggest doing something illegal on here 

---

Wrong!

The requirement for TV dealers to notify TV Licensing of buyers addresses was repealed years ago.

Edit -  25 June  2013 to be exact

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/business-and-organisations/tv-dealers-aud18

[#12]

Hello everyone, this had slipped my mind until I got a letter in the post stating that they have been trying to contact me via email and I hadn't replied (again, another lie) as their official response was that it was phishing/spam emails and to ignore it. I decided to call as I didn't fancy having someone at my front door demanding they come in an examine my stuff.

I asked the guy why I kept getting this emails the TL:DR of it is that if you have an email account which they have on their system under "no license required" which is also linked to an iplayer account that has been used they will letter/email you. Essentially they're just cross referencing and hoping for the best. In my case it's an old xbox that I gave to my younger brother and he's been using it for on demand contact at my mother's house (which is, indeed covered by a license.)

[#13]

Yep well you don't have to let them into your property, and can polietly tell them to "get lost". I would use a more swary version of that remark, but I'd better not go into that here. Use your imagination. 

The only way they can force entry is a court order, and you'd have to have done something pretty bad for that to happen. In that case they won't be asking to come in