Lotto-right to Anonymity

mikemac

There was a thread on this a few months ago but I can't find it.

Imagine you bought the winning lotto ticket to a massive jackpot in your local newsagent but you don't come forward immediately. You want to wait a few weeks when the fuss dies down.

Here are some reasons:

• Family members arriving who you've never heard of before
• Begrudging neighbours (a certainity in Ireland )
• Begging letters
• Possible kidnap threat. :eek:

The National Lottery reveal this store and the store manager is getting many requests to say who bought the winning ticket from the media and the nosey locals.

The manager checks the time the ticket was bought and then matches it to the CCTV. Your name then gets leaked.
So to stop this happening, can you threaten the shop owner with legal action if your name is released?
Or do the public have the right to learn about lottery winners.

Mr Magnolia

The media respect your right to anonymity in cases such as this AFAIk

Yakult

Did you win the lotto? loL!

Jo King

You should have thought of that before buying the ticket. The public have no right to know the identity of the winner. It is a matter of private contracts between the National Lottery, the shop and the purchaser of the ticket. the winner has no right to have the information kept confidential either. The lottery pay by cheque which means people in the banks will know when it is lodged. It would be virtually impossible not to tell somebody of the win, such as solicitor accountant, revenue commissioners etc.

Our man in Havana

Do you have the right to stroll into NL HQ and simply collect your cheque without fuss or publicity? I would suspect that the papers have laid seige to the NL HQ and taking pictures of all those that enter. All they have to do is go to whatever town in Cork and ask the locals do you know any of these people?

Banks, solicitors and accountants would be bound by priveldge and could not disclose your identity.

Victor

The NL pay Lotto winners an extra €10,000 if they partake in the publicity.

Mr Magnolia

Bond-007 wrote:

Do you have the right to stroll into NL HQ and simply collect your cheque without fuss or publicity?

Yes.

I would suspect that the papers have laid seige to the NL HQ and taking pictures of all those that enter.

True, but, a lot of people are in and out of HP on a daily basis so it would be easy to walk straight past them.

All they have to do is go to whatever town in Cork and ask the locals do you know any of these people?

Also true. Without a photo or an interview it's not much of a story though.

jawlie

Mr Magnolia wrote:

The media respect your right to anonymity in cases such as this AFAIk

Thats the funniest thing I have heard for a long time, and to think that, for example, the tabloid media care two hoots about respecting an individuals privacy shows incredible naiveity.

When I won the lotto, I took the ticket to my solicitor to have him note I had the winning ticket. Then I took it to another solicitor and asked him to claim the ticket on behalf of me as an anonymous client, thus ensuring both my privacy and security.

Tarakiwa

micmclo wrote:

The manager checks the time the ticket was bought and then matches it to the CCTV. .

I am sure that this would be a breach of the Data Protection Acts - i.e. the Data (CCTV) was obtained for the purposes of security ....... NOT for the purpose of identifying a Lotto winner!

Mr Magnolia

jawlie wrote:

Thats the funniest thing I have heard for a long time, and to think that, for example, the tabloid media care two hoots about respecting an individuals privacy shows incredible naiveity.

You'd be surprised jawlie. They'll be like a dog with a bone over the winner of a 16m Jackpot but nobody cares about the average winner.

seamus

Tarakiwa wrote:

I am sure that this would be a breach of the Data Protection Acts - i.e. the Data (CCTV) was obtained for the purposes of security ....... NOT for the purpose of identifying a Lotto winner!

Correct.

However, in order to prove such a breach, you would have to prove that the store manager did indeed look at the information and didn't just throw your name out.