Think about all the times you’ve bought something online. Now see if you can remember how many times you were asked for a “contact phone number” (as opposed to, er, a non-contact phone number?) so that the seller can get in touch if there are any problems with your order.
I recently wrote about data protection, arguing that organisations don’t grasp the idea that adults can live together and make shared decisions. The default assumption is that you do not consent to any third party ringing up about your account, and it’s usually impossible to prove your consent without putting in more effort than it would take to make the call yourself in the first place.
Today I was having problems with the home internet connection. Not only am I a member of the over-privileged web generation, I’m also a freelancer who works from home a lot. So this was a big deal. I rang O2 to find out what was going on.
I’m impressed with how quickly I got through to their British-based call centre. Yes, there was the usual automated phone-answering system, but this one wasn’t too bad, and I got through to the correct human within minutes.