Telkom Kenya yesterday released a statement emphasizing that as a company they adhere to relevant legislation with respect to the protection of our customer’s data and the privacy of the same. They also sought to explain that the said person was not actually an employee of Telkom Kenya but a Sales Agent from one of their Device Partners whose team was conducting a sales drive on devices in the retail shop where the Laura was served. They also indicated that they had been in touch with the Device Partner to ensure that all their Agents comply with Telkom Kenya’s Privacy Policy on Customer Data and the Code of Conduct.
They continued to state that all data that is provided to them by customers is strictly for professional use and that all customer information is stored in a secure database that is only accessible by authorized Telkom Kenya staff.
If feel this clarification that the guy was not an actual Telkom Kenya employee was important due to the fact that they faced a serious reputational risk due to this incident. It was my thinking that employees in telcos are usually trained on how to handle customer data hence my consternation at this guy’s unprofessionalism. However, being an employee of a device partner he might not have been trained on such.
Anyway I hope this serves as a lesson to those who might want to try the same.