There is no doubting that Tiscali cocked up but...

it isn't as if they have posted an image of her on the directory enquiries with references to her previous names. If you've changed your name, changed your address, not passed on your details to anyone you don't trust and have visually changed dramatically over 20 years then I don't think you have a significant amount to worry about.

When she's done with the court case, it could be made into the worlds slowest action film. I'd be hanging on the edge of my seat waiting until the bad guys go through all the BT books in the UK and find her only to find out that the Tiscali line has a fault and they've published the wrong address anyway.

Anonymous because you know someone is after me too!

what do you expect from an Italian company

Come on this from a company based in the country that elected Belsconi twice. Italy is the only major country in Western Europe you can't drive rental cars from other countries into. Great food, wine, women but any thing requiring organization or competence good luck with that.

@Andrew Austin (if that is, in fact, your real name!)

Could just as easily be a Loyalist turncoat... besides, the Provos have gone a bit soft and the other arms are more likely to take action these days, so they are.

Where's the Red Hand icon?

Something's not quite right here

If this really was a matter of high-level national or personal security then why did she give Tiscali genuine details? Why trust a company with something that could get you killed any more than you would trust a man on the street?

I suspect there's more to this than has been released.

Gotta love the fact ...

... That they publish her name and address, but don't give their own head office phone number.

Thats class.

Paris, because she is in so many peoples phone books

If you were that concerned

Why would you take out phone or broadband service?

I thought these type of people liked to live 'off the grid'

Black helicopters for obvious reasons.

Hints

I like the hints that El Reg drops in the article as to which event the woman was an activist in during the 1980's. Almost inviting us to trawl through Wikipedia and have a guess.

I, like Jimmy Floyd up there, also have no idea why this woman chose to give her genuine home address to Tiscali.

However; all she had to do was take the £50k offered, change her name again, and move house. I gather that getting a villa in Spain or Eastern Europe is all the rage these days.

Re: Something's not quite right here

"If this really was a matter of high-level national or personal security then why did she give Tiscali genuine details?"

How else would they have provided the service TO HER HOUSE? Unless there is some technology I'm not aware of that can make data find it's own way.

Even if you have changed your identity you still wouldn't want to increase the likelihood of it being discovered by having it in the phonebook. And at the end of the day Tiscali are in breach of data protection laws, regardless of what it actually led to (or not).

RE: There is no doubting that Tiscali cocked up but...

"If you've changed your name, changed your address, not passed on your details to anyone you don't trust and have visually changed dramatically over 20 years then I don't think you have a significant amount to worry about."

You assume here that the individuals that might want to do her ill are unaware of the previous details, where in fact they might well have some of it and are piecing it together. Following the breadcrumbs so to speak. You also assume that those same individuals don't have significant personal or financial incentives to discover her whereabouts. Given that neither of which you can possibly know, your risk assessment is somewhat flawed.

Clam/.

@AC 12:08 GMT

"commentator whop"? A Freudian slip, surely...

Tiscali - Never heard of privacy?

Thank you for the heads up, I'll be sure NEVER to use Tiscali, and to warn others off, what a bunch of cowboys.

I smell something here...

... and it isn't roses. More like the product of the back end of a male bovine...

"Tiscali declined to comment on the individual case. "If a registered letter was not responded to then we apologise, this is certainly not typical," it said in a statement. "We take the security of our customer data very seriously and are compliant with all legal requirements for data protection.""

Given the trouble my girlfriend recently had when moving house and leaving Tiscali, I'd be likely to think that this sort of thing was, indeed, absolutely typical of them.

dumb fcx

Someone phoned her asking about someone else she used to live nextdoor to. Therefore it doesn't matter about appearances etc - if strangers can find her, reprisal mobs can.

Funny thing is though, she probably gets off on the fact she's "special" etc but those she did her stuff against years ago are probably dead, in prison or wear cardigans and play squash with Jeremy every Tuesday evening. ie they've moved on and forgotten her.

A court case is excellent for stirring old memories though.

@asdf

I dunno, given the choice I'd rather have Berlusconi than Brown any day of the week.

A premier who fucks models, hands out bribes from his own pocket and regularly makes an arse of himself in public as opposed to one who fucks everyone, hands out "expenses" from the public purse and regularly makes the entire country look an arse in public? No contest IMHO.

Sucks to be you

Probably an IRA journalist that leaked too much info.

Something fishy here

I can give you my current name, address, and all phone numbers but there's no way you'd know who I was ten years ago just from any or all of that. Nor from just my given name, address or numbers find the others.

It could be possible to find out but then I haven't had the need to 'disappear off the radar'.

Bet she's shitting herself about the NIR, when it will be illegal not to disclose assumed identities and change of address and we'll have a single - leaky - database making it easy to trace her entire history back to year dot.

Well

That's what you get for using Tiscrappy. Should have used a good quality ISP.

You have to love them

I particularly like Tiscali wanting to know her background and why she wanted to remain 'hidden'. No valid reason at all for this, and total fail on recognising that their sales team made a grave error or told a fib.

It's regrettable that the injured party will also get unwanted publicity from this, as I'd like to see Tiscali's silliness made public for all to see.

Housewife Hysteria

Someone at el reg must be related to this old bag. Keeping a telephone number ex-directory isn't a security measure. If she was involved in some hush hush government secrets crap then she should have gotten it all sorted out through her government contacts. If she doesn't have any contacts then her story is bogus and housewife hysteria claims another gullible victim.

PS if there's one thing more boring than dealing with customer service at a telco it's reading a bleeding two page article about it embellished with nonsensical cloak and dagger guff.

"How much do you want?"

> "How much do you want?" he shouted, according to documents seen by The Register. "10,000? 20,000? 50,000? How much? Give me a figure?"

If someone did that to me I'd assume they were recording the call and were trying to get me to say something that they could use in court - ""Look, he's only doing this to try to get money out of us!"

> The company, meanwhile, demanded to know the detailed background of her involvement in national security

Perhaps they could explain what possible use they could have for such classified information, other than passing it on to her enemies?

False names

When it comes to working the "system" of getting a subscriber line you generally have to go through some sort of credit checking process. Obviously it's far from impossible to game that system, but it takes planning, is a lot of hassle, and generally requires you to either stick with one name for long enough to build up a record, and/or get your false name on the electoral roll; both of which basically mean you end up with what is to all intents and purposes a static identity - the very thing you're trying to avoid by using an assumed name in the first place. As other posters have said, any halfwit with enough of an incentive to find you could do so quite easily.

Hold on

"Tiscali provided BT with the woman's name address and phone number sometime before the end of November 2007"

Um, didn't they have to as BT provide the phone service for Tiscali?

She should have got a broadband dongle

and registered is at the address two doors down. Then when she heard a loud KA-BOOM and seen the charred remains of their household pet go flying past the window she would know those no-good rats had sold her out and it was time to break out the fake nose, pay a visit to the Lone Gunmen and go take some ISP Boss's scalp Arnie style.

Now THERE'S your movie adaptation.

T-800 icon because SHE'LL BE BACK!

Off the record people

I guess the company is in huge problems now. Because they are never going to be trusted with off the grid people (aliases people and such). I also guess that regulators are going to go over this company with a detailed investigation soon.

High Level Complaints Phone Number

If anyone else is having problems with Tiscali, Pipex or Bulldog the number to call is: 0207 087 2000. They answer very quickly and are always want to know how you obtained the number. Please don't tell them.

The numerous 0871 centres work off a very limited script which assumes that you've screwed up. If it is Tiscali who have made a mistake they cannot help. If you push them hard enough they will be forced to lie to you, as there is nothing else they can do.

Unbelievable, but credible.

It would not be the first time a corporate cockup exposed lives, but it takes a special class of stupid to remain so ignorant after much prompting.

For those who state that "special" means "knowing someone", a simple question. If you were trying to find this woman, who would you watch? Everyone in the country or her handler?

What made me laugh out loud:

"The company, meanwhile, demanded to know the detailed background of her involvement in national security."

That is ab-so-lu-te quality. If any of you is ever in a similar situation, use the following answer:

"OK, *I* don't have to kill you if I do. *They* will. Still interested?"

Duh..

Does anyone else think it's amusing...

...that someone would expect confidential information to be kept secure by a company that's now "owned by Carphone Warehouse"?

Maybe that's a perfectly respectable firm--we don't have them over here--but it sounds like it's run by a guy with 50 watches and the latest French postcards inside his overcoat.

(Just checking for those postcards.)

Another Be / ADSL+ happy customer...

I moved into my current home just over 2 years ago. I'm still getting a monthly bill from Tiscali for the previous occupants' Tiscali service... Despite them telling Tiscali they'd moved house, having their phone number (service provided by Tiscali) transferred to their new house, its still me that gets sent the bill.

How do they manage it?

@Seán

well seeing as it happened in the 1980's the chances of her contacts still even being in government are pretty much zero idiot!!

christ there was a story of a tory councillor being outed by some Irish thugs a couple of months

ago, the IRA have long memories.

But then the British security forces have long memories as well, any unexplained deaths start

happening on the mainland, and I fully expect a rash of car accidents to start happening in

northern Ireland if you know what I mean.

@LPF

"christ there was a story of a tory councillor being outed by some Irish thugs a couple of months"

Outed, or ousted?? I don't recall any tories being outed recently, the days of closeted 'family' Tory MPs frequenting popular cruising spots 'unaware of its usage' seems to have past. Well, at least we'll have one thing to look forward to if they make it in at the next election.

< I simply went into the bushes looking for my coat, Sergeant.