topic Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering in Security

EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

TOTO24 — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 16:41:50 GMT

Last week I paid a visit to my local EE shop to have a prepaid 120gb data sim swapped. I could not use my data and EE telephone customer service believed the SIM card was corrupted.

Initially I was sent away from the store as I did not have photographic ID. I returned to the store and after having my details taken, a photograph of myself taken AND a PHOTOGRAPH of my UK driving licence taken, BOTH FRONT AND BACK (back shows classifications I am entitled to drive ONLY) I was able to have my SIM card swapped.

Now, I will ask EE the following question. Why do you need to take a photograph of the front and rear of my driving licence? I’m am not very happy with EE needing a photograph of my ID AND the need to record what classifications of vehicles I am entitled to drive before they will swap a SIM card.

Can anyone here explain this to me as it seems unreasonable and amounts to excessive and needless data gathering.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to any responses.

Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

Katie_B — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 18:07:37 GMT

Hello @TOTO24.

Thanks for coming here.

I am sorry that the process was not explained by the staff at your local EE Store before the photograph was taken.

The in-store photograph is part of the SIM replacement process and is used to match the likeness of your photo ID to reduce fraud risk.

Katie

Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

TOTO24 — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 18:18:45 GMT

Hi @Katie_B

As strange and unnecessary as taking my photograph is, my question asked why pictures were taken of my driving licence? Can you tell me why this happened?

Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

Katie_B — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 10:38:50 GMT

Hi @TOTO24.

Pictures would have been taken to confirm the ID is the original.

Was any explanation provided to you by the EE Store for the process of passing security with your ID?

Katie

Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

TOTO24 — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 10:47:23 GMT

Hi @Katie_B

That does not make any sense to me. A photograph won’t confirm if is driving licence is original.

What is the process of EE confirming originality with the photograph?

Thank you.

Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

Katie_B — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 17:46:35 GMT

Hi @TOTO24.

Customers wishing to obtain a replacement SIM in Retail must provide a valid form of ID which must be scanned using our ID scanning tool. The tool verifies the ID is valid (e.g. in date), authentic (by checking for signs of tampering on the front and back), and checks that the image on the ID is a true likeness of the person in store.

The process is in place to protect our customers and company from fraud.

Katie

Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

TOTO24 — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:46:57 GMT

Hi @Katie_B

Thank you for explaining that EE scanned my driving licence with their 'Data Scanning Tool'.

Can you please tell me where this scan is stored/sent and for long.

I appreciate you helping me better understand this procedure.

Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

Katie_B — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 11:16:47 GMT

Hi @TOTO24.

Information on EE's privacy policy can be found HERE.

Katie

Re: EE Sim Swap Data Gathering

TOTO24 — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 11:33:22 GMT

Hi @Katie_B

It seems after reading the information you provided I am told to make a complaint to the EE Data Protection Officer. I would be doing this as EE do not set a timeframe on how long they will store my information, particularly scans of government ID. Should this information have been explained to me by the instore customer service before a scan is taken of my ID or my photograph taken?

*******

Protecting your information and how long we keep it

How do we protect your personal information?
We’ll keep details about your account and the products and services you’ve bought and paid for while you’re a customer. In particular we’ll keep:
a summary copy of your bills for six years from the date of the bill;
your contact details on file while you’re one of our customers, and for six years after;
SMS content for seven days and data relating to calls for up to 12 months after the call; and
details relating to any dispute for six years after it was closed.
How long do we keep your personal information?
In other cases, we’ll store personal information for the periods needed for the reason we collected it or need to use it. And sometimes we’ll keep it for longer if we need to by law. Otherwise, we delete it. You can ask us for specific information on retention periods using the details below.

How to contact us and further details

If you are unhappy about how we have handled your personal information you can make a complaint to our data protection officer here who will investigate the matter and report back to you.

If you are still not satisfied after our response or believe we are not using your personal information in line with the law, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner, the regulator in the UK. You can find details of how to contact them on their website at https://ico.org.uk/.

If you’d like any more details, or you have comments or questions about our privacy notice, contact us here or write to us at:

Data Privacy Team

Pp Floor 16

1 Braham Street

London E1 8EE

Thank you.