any laws broken?

sundodger5

A pay as you go voucher was submitted in an expenses claim. The company took the voucher and contacted the mobile company to get the telephone number the top up was applied to.
Using this they then rang the number to see who would answer the phone.
So the question is what law/act if any were broken.

Losty Dublin

sundodger5 wrote: »

A pay as you go voucher was submitted in an expenses claim. The company took the voucher and contacted the mobile company to get the telephone number the top up was applied to.
Using this they then rang the number to see who would answer the phone.
So the question is what law/act if any were broken.

Fraudulent expense claims, perhaps?

sundodger5

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Fraudulent expense claims, perhaps?

No. This happened a couple of years back and I was told by my manager to let it go as it would create trouble.
Always wondered what law, if any, was broken.

loremolis

sundodger5 wrote: »

A pay as you go voucher was submitted in an expenses claim. The company took the voucher and contacted the mobile company to get the telephone number the top up was applied to.
Using this they then rang the number to see who would answer the phone.
So the question is what law/act if any were broken.

The Company who gave out the telephone number broke their contract with the purchaser of the voucher and Data Protection laws?

Paulw

loremolis wrote: »

The Company who gave out the telephone number broke their contract with the purchaser of the voucher

What contract? The contract to convert the voucher number to credit on the phone?? That contract was completed (I assume). There is no confidentiality clause in a topup voucher purchase. A phone number, in itself, is not protected. It is simply a valid phone number. As long as no personal details (name, address, etc) were given, then I fail to see any issue.

hfallada

I would think the phone company broke data protection laws as they reveal your information to a third party. But its say something about the way the company trusts you or doesnt trust you if they are checking your expenses in such detail

Zambia

loremolis wrote: »

The Company who gave out the telephone number broke their contract with the purchaser of the voucher and Data Protection laws?

The firm would be the purchaser if the voucher was expensed.

camphor

sundodger5 wrote: »

A pay as you go voucher was submitted in an expenses claim. The company took the voucher and contacted the mobile company to get the telephone number the top up was applied to.
Using this they then rang the number to see who would answer the phone.
So the question is what law/act if any were broken.

If someone submits a voucher it must be implicit that they are waiving any rights to privacy in respect of it. Normal auditing would demand that there is verification of any document submitted. Auditors would at least check out random invoices and expense claims and it is reasonable to assume when submitting an expense claim that the vouchers will be checked. A person can't demand the boss pick up the tab for anything if the boss can't satisfy himself (and his accountants) that the item was bona fide used on company business.

beeftotheheels

camphor wrote: »

If someone submits a voucher it must be implicit that they are waiving any rights to privacy in respect of it. Normal auditing would demand that there is verification of any document submitted. Auditors would at least check out random invoices and expense claims and it is reasonable to assume when submitting an expense claim that the vouchers will be checked. A person can't demand the boss pick up the tab for anything if the boss can't satisfy himself (and his accountants) that the item was bona fide used on company business.

Not to mention Revenue - was PAYE operated on the voucher expense correctly?

sundodger5

I suppose the other question that springs from this is that if I rang the phone co with a payg voucher number would they give me the info they gave to my employer?

Pro Hoc Vice

sundodger5 wrote: »

I suppose the other question that springs from this is that if I rang the phone co with a payg voucher number would they give me the info they gave to my employer?

More than likely yes, as you have the voucher.

Pat Mustard

sundodger5 wrote: »

No. This happened a couple of years back and I was told by my manager to let it go as it would create trouble.
Always wondered what law, if any, was broken.

If it was a fraudulent expenses claim as suggested by Losty Dublin, then maybe it amounted to making a gain or causing a loss by deception and/or possibly false accounting if a person made or cooperated in making a falsified entry in an expense account.

sundodger5

The Mustard wrote: »

If it was a fraudulent expenses claim as suggested by Losty Dublin, then maybe it amounted to making a gain or causing a loss by deception and/or possibly false accounting if a person made or cooperated in making a falsified entry in an expense account.

Glad i am not overly sensitive.
Can you supply as much info re the question asked? it would be appreciated.

Pat Mustard

sundodger5 wrote: »

Glad i am not overly sensitive.
Can you supply as much info re the question asked? it would be appreciated.

To be fair, when you wrote that your manager advised you to to let it go, I thought that you were investigating an expenses claim made by an employee and that your manager asked you to drop it. So it seemed from your OP that the thrust of your question concerned that. No offence was meant.

In any case, assuming that the pay as you go customer (I now assume that this is you) was/is a Vodfone customer, then the Vodafone Pay as you go terms and conditions (s.9) incorporate Vodafone's privacy policy. See the part entitled Use and Disclosure of Information, especially ss.8-9:

8. Disclosure of Data will only be made to third parties who are our agents or servants acting on our directions. Save as required by law (e.g. criminal investigations) no disclosure of Data will be made to third parties for those third parties' own purposes or use.
9. Under no circumstances will lists of customer data/information (i.e. mailing lists or database information) be disclosed to a third party for that third party's exploitation or use without your express permission. Data may be legitimately given to Vodafone's servants or agents for legitimate purposes as described above. This may include the transfer of data to other jurisdictions for processing. In these circumstances Vodafone will ensure that adequate contractual and technical safeguards are in place to protect your Data. All such processing will take place in full compliance with all applicable laws.

So, while legal advice cannot be offered on this forum, etc., and not of all of the facts may have been given, it could possibly be suggested that you could consider looking into breach of contract.

I didn't really look into this as regards whether we are dealing with personal data, but you could consider whether there has been a breach of the Data Protection Acts. As far as I understand, the Data Protection Commissioner doesn't have the power to award compensation.

sundodger5

Thanks for that. Not looking for compo was just curious. Had a feeling someone had done something wrong when I was told to not rock the boat.

No Pants

camphor wrote: »

If someone submits a voucher it must be implicit that they are waiving any rights to privacy in respect of it. Normal auditing would demand that there is verification of any document submitted. Auditors would at least check out random invoices and expense claims and it is reasonable to assume when submitting an expense claim that the vouchers will be checked. A person can't demand the boss pick up the tab for anything if the boss can't satisfy himself (and his accountants) that the item was bona fide used on company business.

But surely you approach the person who submitted the claim, not the company who provided the paperwork.

To make a personal comparison, my phone's on a billpay contract and it does get used when I travel. When I receive my bill each month, I submit maybe one page of a 6/7 page bill for expenses. Apart from my phone number on top and the numbers that I called and received calls from while roaming, the rest of the information on the page gets redacted. My expenses are scrutinised and sometimes audited as a matter of course. If more information is required, I give it. However, if I found out that the company had called my carrier directly, I'd be unhappy about it. If I found out that my carrier and given them any information, I'd be furious.