Are hosting providers allowed to do this?

[Tinuva]

koffiejunkie, well said and all, but that post of yours speak more about your own integrity than the company you work for.

Having a bad employee could happen to any company regardless of how hard they try to get the right person for the job. While some people have integrity and honesty, for every one of them you will find someone who will lie and trick their way into a job. I say this because I have now worked a little bit over 5 years in the ISP industry, and my eyes have opened as to what happen and how things work, and I believe you get more people that will hurt the company you work for, than you get people that actually want to be there and improve things or just do it right.

Reading this thread again made me realize, this is more about the person than the company, while the company still has a role to play in all of this, having the correct policy and procedures to keep things like that in line. But who knows, maybe that person really just wanted to poke around ect, I am surprised that he and the company are so honest about it.

 

[koffiejunkie]

koffiejunkie, well said and all, but that post of yours speak more about your own integrity than the company you work for.

I guess that's safe to assume but it depends on the company. Our recruitment process is pretty brutal and we routine turn away technical wizards when there's even a subtle hint that they're not a 100% fit. We've had a handful of bad apples slip through, but they tend to get weeded out pretty quickly

I say this because I have now worked a little bit over 5 years in the ISP industry, and my eyes have opened as to what happen and how things work, and I believe you get more people that will hurt the company you work for, than you get people that actually want to be there and improve things or just do it right.

That's an interesting observation. I think the margins you work with has a big impact on the sort of work you end up doing and as a result of that, the kind of people you attract and are able to retain. Doing shared hosting support is bottom-feeder stuff. Extremely narrow scope, no depth, little skill required, little job satisfaction.

But who knows, maybe that person really just wanted to poke around ect, I am surprised that he and the company are so honest about it.

I'm not surprised they were honest about it. I think companies are starting to come around to the idea that being honest about mistakes they make and taking the heat is good for customer relations and reduces chances of getting sued further down. What I am surprised about is that they admitted what happen but didn't apologise and offer some form of compensation.

 

[Ben_D0ver]

Management at WebAfrica should have immediately come forward and firstly apologized for the inconveniences caused by this. If the evidence presented to them was in black and white, as it seems to be based on your explanation of events then it shouldnt have taken them too long to identify the person responsible. At this point some form of communication to you advising that the matter is being dealt with internally and they're willing to offer any assistance in regards to restoring your database.

Not too sure if this is a lack of interest on their part, or perhaps one of those moments where they've made the wrong call at addressing the issue and taking control of the situation.

Either way this leaves a made taste in ones mouth and definitely makes you think twice about using WebAfrica.

 

[WAJeff]

Hi guys,

This is definitely something that is completely unacceptable and have never, ever come across a case like this in my almost 5 years of working at Web Africa. As an ISP, we strive in keeping every single customers details and information private. Whether is be a customer with a couple tables listing colours or a massive corporate database containing sensitive info. Across the board, we have very strict privacy policies in place.

@brandonevansp: Please PM me with your client code and any other relevant info. Ticket ID's, call times and from what number you phoned us from. I'd like to have a look into this immediately for you.

 

[Ben_D0ver]

Across the board, we have very strict privacy policies in place.

Considering the nature of this confidentiality breach and that this now in the public domain I would be interested in seeing a copy of these policies. What is WebAfrica doing to ensure that this doesnt happen again?

 

[WAJeff]

Considering the nature of this confidentiality breach and that this now in the public domain I would be interested in seeing a copy of these policies. What is WebAfrica doing to ensure that this doesnt happen again?

http://www.webafrica.co.za/privacy/#Accesstopersonaldata

There are also internal policies in place and security procedures to ensure that we keep your data private. Unfortunately I can't share these on a public forum though.

@OP: Any news on that PM for me?

 

[Ben_D0ver]

http://www.webafrica.co.za/privacy/#Accesstopersonaldata

There are also internal policies in place and security procedures to ensure that we keep your data private. Unfortunately I can't share these on a public forum though.

@OP: Any news on that PM for me?

Thanks Jeff.

The link you sent me pertains to personal information which I, the client may have provided you upon signing up as a client and not information which I upload to your servers and entrust you to keep safe from third parties including your staff.

Access to personal data

11.

If you believe that your personal data which we may have is outdated or incorrect please ask us to correct– please use our contact page. Please provide us with all the information we need to make the correction.
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You can also request access to any relevant personal data held by the web site owner as laid out in the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (“PROATIA”) and where such access is necessary for you to exercise and/or protect any of your rights. We think that it will probably be simpler for you to just send us an e-mail asking for the information you need.