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Adrian S

1 reviews | Active since Aug 2012

12 Mar 2021, 16:16

Misleading solicitation of personal information in an attempt to sell financial products

Got an unwanted call from Malcolm, a consultant employed by TS MARKET RESEARCH, a "company" posing as an independent market research company, doing research for statistical (not financial) purposes. Numerous very personal questions were asked like, do you have: 1. gap cover 2. pets (what pets) 3. a vehicle (how many) 4. vehicle insurance 5. medical aid 6. tracking device 7. who will you call in case of an emergency, etc.

I suddenly realised this person is not doing research, but rather building a profile on me personally. I expressed my discomfort with the process, the questions, and the fact that they used my number without permission to invade my privacy. (POPI Act Hello??)

When I refused to continue the "research", I was asked if it will be ok for TS MARKET RESEARCH to provide my personal results of this "research" to service providers in the relevant industries. ***? They might as well provide my information to hi-jack syndicates and the Rolex gang, while they're at it.

My answer was obviously NO, it is NOT OK!

I started questioning the consultant, specifically asking the name of his employer. He confirmed it was TS MARKET RESEARCH but was rather vague with other information. Eventually I was put through to Amanda (Manager) who also confirmed they work for TS MARKET RESEARCH and gave me a FSP number for this company and a physical address. Firstly this company does not exist (to the best of my knowledge), and secondly I wondered why would a market research company have a Financial Service Provider number??

Eventually Amanda informed me that TS MARKET RESEARCH is a division (not a subsidiary, affiliate, or any arm's length entity) of TALK SURE TRADING (Pty) Ltd. FSP no 42788. Not that the relationship of TS MARKET RESEARCH with TALK SURE TRADING (Pty) Ltd makes any difference to the offence.

HOW CAN THE FSCA ALLLOW A REGISTERED FINANCIAL SERVICES PROVIDER TO CONDUCT BUSINESS IN THIS MANNER, VIOLATING NUMEROUS PRIVACY AND FINANCIAL ACTS?

Not to mention the security risk and the liability claims, should this confidential information fall into the wrong hands. Any FSP is compelled by law to respect the privacy and protect the confidential information of any client.

I think a formal complaint should be lodged at the FSCA for further investigation

0
Replies (2)
Talksure Sa
Talksure Sa's reply15 Mar 2021, 12:01
Official
Dear Adrian

Thank you for reaching out to us.

We are sad to hear of your recent experience with us.

We have attempted to contact you to discuss the matter with you however to no avail, we have also sent you a text message requesting a convenient time for you to which we can call you.

Kindly let us know when it would be a convenient time for us to give you a call.

Regards
TalksureSA team
Talksure Sa
Talksure Sa's reply18 Mar 2021, 12:21
Official
 Dear Adrian 

Kindly note that TS Market Research is a campaign of Talksure Trading (Pty) Ltd, an authorized Financial Services Provider (FSP 42788). Talksure Trading (Pty) Ltd has various campaigns of which some are insurance regulated and others that fall outside the scope of insurance regulation. The interaction we had with you was from a non-insurance regulated campaign. 

We sincerely apologize for the lack of immediate clarity on the call with Malcolm regarding the organization’s details however we confirm that the aforementioned was provided to you by the line manager Amanda. In the efforts of assuring you that we are a legal entity, Malcolm defaulted to providing you with background on the organization which included that Talksure Trading (Pty) Ltd is an authorized Financial Services Provider. During the interactions, the line manager ultimately outlined that TS Market Research is an internal campaign and that Talksure Trading (Pty) Ltd is the registered organization. 

We further acknowledge your discomfort expressed on the call and to which we confirm that the internal process of adding you to our DNC list was provided; we note that we promote data subject participation and on the basis that you expressed discomfort we did not process any of your information and subsequently placed your details onto our internal DNC list thus preventing further calls to you from within our organization. We also encourage you to register with the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) on https://www.nationaloptout.org/ should you wish to not receive any further marketing calls. 

We take the privacy and protection of personal information very seriously and will only process personal information with data subject consent and in accordance with the current South African data privacy laws, relevant laws in the jurisdictions we operate in, and the terms of our organization’s Privacy Policy. Accordingly, the relevant data privacy principles relating to the processing thereof (including, but not limited to, the collection, handling, transfer, sharing, correction, storage, archiving and deletion) will be app**** to any personal information provided by you and/or collected during your interaction with us. 

We would like to thank you for reaching out to us as we are always looking for ways to improve our operations and your feedback is an invaluable part of this process. We do acknowledge that we are in the POPIA grace period and we take privacy and security exceptionally seriously and comply with the spirit of the legislation; in light of this we have since reintroduced and reinforced our procedures and processes. 

Regards
TalksureSA team