Andrew Jorgensen
It's better than bad, it's good!

Security Theater... again!

Nokia finally worked out their N810 developer discount code issues in the US which means I get to go through the LetsTalk security theater again! I thought I'd dig a little deeper as to what triggers them treating their customers like this. The representative grilling me said that they usually do verification on orders for unlocked phones. Conspiracy theories are left as an exercise for the reader.

But because I hassled them about it they went a step further on me and called American Express to ask them to call me and have me personally authorize the transaction. That call came through just as we finished with the following multiple-choice questions:

What month was Rebecca born in? Which of these counties have you lived in? What month was Bruce born in?

Why does this bug me so much? Because for $7.95 you too can find the answers to these questions and more! I used public record searches to find my high school classmates for our 10 year reunion. If you really want to steal someone's identity $8 is a small price to pay to do decent job of it.

When American Express called me I had LetsTalk wait while I complained to AmEx and asked them to put a note in my record to not hassle me the next time LetsTalk asks them to. I also asked AmEx if there is some financial incentive for LetsTalk to do this, better rates for better security or something. There isn't.

I really wish someone would slap LetsTalk for wasting their money and hassling their customers. Please, Nokia, please won't you slap them? Or fire them. That would work too.

Comments are open on this post for anyone who can think of a legitimate reason for LetsTalk to do this crap.