New Contributor
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22 Messages
Online bill reminders for Cox
I ordinarily much prefer to use paperless billing methods with most of my regular bills. However I was forced to make an exception some weeks back and return to paper billing with Cox because they insisted on sending reminder emails that included too much personal information. (The worst poor billing privacy case I ever had was not Cox but another company that stupidly was putting links to the billing email to show the content of the billing email out on the web without requiring a login; I do not think Cox is as stupid as that, fortunately.)
Anyway the Cox email was including information it did not need to include in order to remind me to log in to look at my bill. I wonder if they ever simplified the emails since I went back to paper or what personal data points they are including in the emails currently, since email is not a secure form of communicating -- does anyone know? When I get their emails, I just want to know it is time for me to look online at my bill.
If they have made the emails more simplified reminders without a ton of personal info, I would like to go back to email billing.
I don't want my entire billing account number in the email or my full address or any of that. The email is just a reminder to LOG IN and download, and they don't need to put huge amounts of info into the reminder. Since I have a reminder in my calendar anyway, I don't need any reminder but I'm not allowed to opt out. It's an either/or situation of paper bills or paper free with email reminders, and since paper free means no choice on receiving an email displaying too much info at the moment, it looks like I have to go with paper. Not my preferred choice. Until they simplify, but I need to know from someone who has seen the billing email reminders whether or not they have changed.
Every email you send goes through 10 to 20 hops between servers which have access to the email en route, and you have no idea who is hosting those servers -- try a Trace Route sometime for an IP in an email.
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Accepted Solution
Domino
Valued Contributor III
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2.8K Messages
Cox Communications
6305 Peachtree Dunwoody Road Northeast
Atlanta,GA
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Domino
Valued Contributor III
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2.8K Messages
Simply opt for paper (mail delivery), and deposit the unopened bill into your recycle bin. Since I pay all my bills with my bank's bill paying service, I find the bill total on the email to be helpful. But as far as all the other stuff on the bill, I agree with you. As of 11/01/15, all that stuff is still included.
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yak
Contributor III
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521 Messages
On November 21, the email had my name, my account number, my address, total due, due date.
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MaryD
New Contributor
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22 Messages
Thanks very much, Domino and yak.
I will continue to get the paper bill. I'd rather not get the paper bill because it could wind up in the wrong box, due to the post office's occasional goofs.
But I'll risk that before I allow them to add so much personal information to a monthly email that is not secure, due to the fact there are many servers between us and them when email is used. All the need to do is remind us to log in, not put our entire personal history and full account number into the stupid email. We're lucky they didn't include the social security number. But my address and full account number is also too much. They only need to put the last four digits of the account number and a reminder to login to see the bill, along with a link to the login page if they like. They could put the final bill amount total if necessary but instead they're putting my full address and full account number, which is too much and unnecessary for a reminder message.
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MaryD
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22 Messages
Does anyone have an idea what is the right postal address or fax number or perhaps email address to get this problem really and truly reported to the right department to review? I don't want to have to permanently use the paper billing method and all I'm asking them to do is to follow what has been the usual norms for people paying attention to privacy and to remember that email is NOT secure. I don't need them to tell me my billing address or my complete account number in a reminder email that is only supposed to be telling me to login to download my bill. That is giving too much information to the potential bad actors who have access to the multitude of servers between Cox and me as recipient of the email, something anyone who has ever used TraceRoute to track the number of servers between IP addresses knows. For the same reason they would not put my SS# in an email, they should not be putting my complete billing address and full account number (should use last two or four digits) into a regular email to me.
I want to make this point to the right department but I do not know how to make sure they get it. Telling the phone support did zero good even though they claimed they would tell someone, but I don't believe them. Another problem is Cox needs to hear from a gazillion people before they think anything is worth thinking about. Most people aren't going to try to find out who to contact for this if they even realized there was too much information being put into the billing reminder emails.
I don't have this problem with my other utility company email reminders.
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Jerry
Contributor II
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198 Messages
Fascinating stuff I'd never realized or thought much about. I'd like to learn more.
Such as, what, exactly, could a bad actor do with my name, address and Cox account number?
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chris_c21
Contributor III
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625 Messages
Well for one, they could close your Cox account or change your phone number without you knowing it. Call in and order all kinds of PPV stuff over the phone and run up a nice tab for you.
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MaryD
New Contributor
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22 Messages
went back to adjust tone --
I do not want people to have my name and address because they can use it to start an identity theft dossier. The name and address are two of the first things you are asked every time you identify yourself for an account you have that you call about. Your birthdate is another piece of information that I rarely give out these days because it is used by doctors to identify me and some banks. Identity thieves look for different sources to create their identity theft files.
Address is a key piece of information I use to identify myself on the phone to businesses trying to identify me. My phone number is another key piece and I get very upset when I find out for instance that our state legislature has allowed too much personal information besides SS# to be given out such as by your utility company to potential identity thieves.
As for the Cox account number, only a moron would put the entire account number into an email of this type. The smart move is to put the last two or four digits of it. It's a wonder they didn't put our SS# or passcode in the way they are handling this. Why in the world would you want anyone besides yourself to wind up with your entire Cox account number? Do you not realize that is for identifying yourself? Why does Cox think you don't know your own address and Cox Account number and need it put in an un-secure communication like an email in the clear that is only a reminder to get your bill? Emails in the clear have no encryption and go through dozens of servers between the sender and the recipient in ANY internet email.
Have you never been the victim of identity theft yet? I have, and I am sick of the lax security of certain companies and our state government, which changed things for the worse to help data miners in the last few years..
The Cox email reminder designer was lazy, inconsiderate, and uninformed (i.e. not very competent about security issues) to design an email reminder in this manner spewing unnecessary information into a simple reminder.
I would like to get an email reminder that is not including this info or at least have the option to be paperless without getting any reminder since I know how to remind myself. I do not want my life story put into it for identity thieves.
Cox does not seem to take security of information seriously nor identity theft risks and it's a lot of trouble to have to get a lot of people's attention to this in order to get something to improve.
Use TraceRoute sometime to see how many unidentified servers are between your IP and the IP of someone you are receiving an email from and you'll see how many people might be able to view your info. Example - use http://www.usc.edu/cgi-bin/traceroute?choice=yes to find the number of servers between you and another IP address of a sender such as the IP of the Cox email.
It is better to not leave your privacy to trusting companies that do not care about it.
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Domino
Valued Contributor III
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2.8K Messages
They know your online name and password?
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Domino
Valued Contributor III
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2.8K Messages
Look at your personal checks.
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MaryD
New Contributor
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22 Messages
That's not the point. This gives them PART of what they need to do that and there is NO REASON for them to tell us our address or full account number in a REMINDER To LOGIN EMAIL.
Identity thieves collect files on people, gathering bits and pieces of what they need in different locations. There is no reason to hand out that much information in a simple reminder to log-in email. They can easily do like most people and provide the last couple of numbers of the account number if they feel they must allude to the account and they certainly do not need to send out the full address. I don't know if they are sending the billing or service address but I don't like ANYONE to have my residential address because I do not even take mail there. I am not going to be taking an email every month displaying that. They can simply give part of the account number and tell the person to log in and check out their bill like everyone else does. I don't want to encourage them to start spewing out excess info in an email in the clear, and I don't see why you want to encourage it.
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MaryD
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22 Messages
I don't pay with personal checks in the clear in email. I only use them with people I trust because I had someone do fraud using my checking account number once. I certainly don't put any checking account information into an email, so your point is irrelevant. This is about asking Cox not to send excess personal information into an email that is only a REMINDER To LOGIN. The bill itself is not what I am complaining about. The bill itself is protected with a password and login. I never said I didn't want to get my bill online. I still download it and send the money electronically from my bank. But I am forced to get either a paper version or an email reminding me to log in. I don't want either unless they can give me an option to either not get a reminder or an option to have the reminder not have so much personal information in it. I KNOW WHEN to log in without their help because I have my own bill reminders put by me into a calendar.
I would rather be paper-free and use their download of the bill pdf without an email reminder that displays personal information in the EMAIL. You are confusing the issue. The issue is not how much they put in the BILL. It's how much they put in the clear in EMAIL to remind us to log in. I do not want the bill in EMAIL. I want to download it as a PDF. For those who want it by email, they should have that option if they are that ignorant about the risks but I don't want the info in email being forced on me. I want the option to just have a reminder to login without all my personal information spewed into the email. I don't like it that I am having to use the postal mail system instead of just squelching the email reminder because the post office sometimes misdelivers mail but for now I'm stuck with the postal mail option rather than putting up with this email in the clear displaying too much personal information.
Go back and look at my explanation of TraceRoute and how many servers may have access to the email they are sending. I want to login to download my bill without having an email that displays so much information in it.
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MaryD
New Contributor
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22 Messages
yak, is it your residence address or billing address? I use a po box for billing. I don't like my residence service address being in any email like this. And I'd rather not have any address of mine in the email really.
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MaryD
New Contributor
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22 Messages
I at first selected this as answering the question but I don't even know if this is the address for the right department actually. Does anyone know if this is the address for writing Cox complaints about an issue that we need to bring to the attention of decision makers? And where was this address found? I would like to be sure I have selected the right answer as solving the question before I mark it solved.
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Jerry
Contributor II
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198 Messages
After they gleaned my Cox PIN # through some kind of telepathy? This is fascinating!
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