Culture, Media and Sport CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Margaret Cork [NTC 023]

I contacted my MP (Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell MP) in May 2013, to express my concerns with regards to unsolicited telephone calls and the nuisance they cause. He replied very promptly with a booklet (published by DCMS) to help me to try to avoid such intrusions into my home. All of these I already knew about.

He has now sent me a letter dated 12 July 2013 to give me your details in the event that I might wish to contribute to the Inquiry you are carrying out.

I hope that the following, which no doubt you have heard before, will give you some idea as to my feelings on this matter.

I regularly continue to receive telephone cold calls and other unwanted calls to my landline home telephone. This is despite the fact that I have been registered with the Telephone Preference Service for many years. I have recently gone Ex-directory. I have Caller Display with my telephone provider (Sky). In short I have done all I can do to ensure my phone line is as protected as it can be BUT still the calls manage to get through. Particularly intrusive are calls from abroad both from Europe and from other parts of the world.

I became a widow fairly recently after my husband’s long illness and I was plagued by this type of call—very, very distressing at such a difficult time and, as you will understand, I could not ignore calls at this time.

I also have relatives abroad but despite my phone provider giving me Caller Display my relative’s numbers do not get displayed correctly and therefore I have to answer any “International Calls/Private Caller” calls. I have contacted my phone provider with regards to this but they are unable to solve this problem for me.

It would seem that the TPS enforced by the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) has very little bite to be able to stop these calls reaching the privacy of my home. I assume that as I am registered with the TPS that a large proportion of nuisance calls and certainly direct marketing calls do get blocked (for which I am grateful) but there are still many that come to my number.

Perhaps more publicity should be given to giving these “nuisance companies” very large fines. Putting out this information much more in the public eye would help us, the public, see that at least some effort is being made to correct this problem.

The multi-million pound companies seem unable to use their considerable profits to be used to conquer this problem.

Advertising your “Inquiry” to a wider audience in the general media may also benefit us the public in the long run. I have only heard of the “Inquiry” because my MP contacted me.

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) need updating especially considering these are now 10 years old and need to catch up with the massive rate that Technology has changed over this period. They would appear from the date of 2003 to relate more to the Age of the Dinosaurs in technology terms.

I would not dream of letting a stranger into my house and I really object to the fact that just anyone can “enter” my home through my phone line. I now live alone and I am a pensioner—the situation can be rather desperate at times when there is nobody else to deflect these calls. Luckily I’m not foolish enough to fall for any scams directed my way.

I hope this is of use in your Inquiry.

August 2013