British Gas the Corporate Gorilla.

Did you know that regardless of GDPR rules these blue chip corporate companies have rules of their own and if you are not happy they simply will not provide you the service.

I have just got off the phone with a customer service rep who basically said if I am not happy with their data sharing they will not provide me Gas regardless of GDPR rules.

So looking further into their privacy policy I was shocked to find not only do they share information with credit reference agencies they also share your personal data with the following companies. My question is what has my data got to do with Google, Facebook, Twitter and the like?

Their answer was that because they offer credit they must share your personal data. I am obviously not a corporate giant and I do offer monthly payment plans for my clients, yet the difference is I safeguard my clients personal data and do not share it with any third party.

This is totally wrong on so many levels and the cheek of it is if you are not happy then “Adios” you will have to burn candles instead to keep you warm.

Here is the pdf for their privacy policy:

British-Gas-Energy-privacy-notice

For a quick review here are the companies they share your personal data with:

Centrica Plc (Their Parent Company).
Google
Mediacom
Awin
Rakuten
Facebook
Indicia
Brandwatch
Twitter
Lithium
Communisis
VST
Equifax
Experian
TDX
Callcredit/TransUnion
National Grid
CSP
GHE Solar
ECO Greendeals
Infinity Energy
Infinity Energy
Sustain
Trade Engine
Deloitte

They claim they do not sell your information to third parties, but sharing is ok in their eyes. So in theory anyone of these companies I have listed to you above can contact you with their marketing spiel. Have you ever wondered how these marketing companies get your information?, now you know, as each one of these companies have their own set of T&Cs and they can then sell your information on.

I think that credit agencies need to be accessed to see if you can pay your bills or not and if you fall into arrears then debt collecting agencies. But to share with social media platforms and affiliate sites is absolutely a NO WAY for me and should not be allowed. But GDPR only covers the UK & the EU so sharing your data to countires out of the jurisdiction is possible and you will have to get an army of lawyers to back you up.

I’m not happy and thought I should share this with my readers.

RENATA BARNES
RENATA BARNES
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