Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: carols@drilex.dri.mgh.com (Carol Springs) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: 800 Numbers, Voice Mail, and Privacy Message-ID: Date: 15 Feb 91 04:38:21 GMT Sender: news@casbah.acns.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 29 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 116, Message 12 of 15 In Volume 11, Issue 102, David Gast writes: >If you call 1-800-544-7544, you can get complete information about the >fund holdings in Fidelity Funds of anyone whose social security number >you know. As of February 5, this was not true. According to newspaper reports, people who called the number on that date got a human person who asked for their Fidelity account number in addition to their SSN. What's going on? Well, in response to reports such as the one in the {Wall Street Journal} (and subsequent irate calls from customers), Fidelity is in the process of changing its system. First it blocked access to Fidelity executives' accounts. Soon after, it disabled the touchtone system and put a human in the loop, as described above. Tracey Gordon at Fidelity says that a new automated system is being implemented wherein both Fidelity account number and SSN have to be entered. And within a few weeks, a PIN access system is supposed to be in place. Before the initial reports appeared, Fidelity was claiming that the SSN system was introduced because its market research showed that customers overwhelmingly preferred this method to entering their Fidelity account numbers. Complete account info blocking was available to individual customers, but was not the default. Carol Springs carols@drilex.dri.mgh.com