Vodafone security outrage a reason to switch carriers?

Stan Beer
Monday, 10 January 2011 06:57

Opinion and Analysis

Compromising the security of more than 4 million Vodafone customers is nothing short of an outrage and may even be a reason for another class action against the company. But could it also be final grounds for a mass migration to another mobile carrier?

In a nutshell, the issue as reported in The Sunday Age is this: virtually anyone who sells Vodafone products and services can get access to the web account login details - and therefore personal information - of more than 4 million Australians who are Vodafone account holders.

There are thousands of mobile phone dealers, salespeople and customer service providers who handle Vodafone products in Australia.

That means quite junior people working in corner mobile stores could potentially access highly personal and sensitive information, including names, addresses and credit card details on the web from anywhere in the world!

Even if the vast majority of these modestly paid workers are beyond reproach, there may well be some who would be tempted to sell access to unsavoury elements.

Clearly this is unacceptable and if accounts have indeed been compromised millions of outraged Vodafone users would be within their rights to demand that their contracts be terminated so that they can make arrangements to switch carriers.

To be fair, it has yet to be determined as to whether rival carriers Telstra and Optus have any better security procedures. However, they're not the ones being pilloried in the news right now.

Vodafone already has enough problems on its plate with a class action against its access service levels from 9,000 and counting disgruntled users, the possibility of a similar class action from 3 users, and a horrendous record of keeping customers on hold for 90 minutes and longer.

With regard to the access issues, Vodafone has promised to do better with serious upgrades to its networks. We can only hope that the same thing applies to its security procedures.

As for getting through to a Vodafone operator, we suspect that 90 minutes of listening to 'hang in there we'll be with you really soon' before finally being connected to a polite person in India has already forced many to make the switch to Optus or Telstra, with many more preparing to take the plunge.