E-ticket purchase and subsequent sharing of details

[setdown]

Hi all, trying to figure out something that has me confused, and would like to figure out what's happened!

Yesterday I bought an e-ticket return from LNER. It was for travel on SWR into London, but I like getting the cashback from LNER. I only scanned the ticket at the barriers at the beginning of the journey, there was no need to scan it at any other point.

This morning, I get an email from SWR, asking to fill out a survey on how the journey was. I wonder how they were able to do this; I didn't book through them. I was under the impression that my personal information stays with LNER. Is that not the case? I consider my email address to be quite sensitive data, whether that's actually true or not, who knows.

(at the bottom of the email from SWR, it says this: You have received this message because you or someone else using this email address has bought a ticket or a season ticket from South Western Railway. That is definitely not the case.)

It's not a big deal, but if my data is getting shared around various different companies, I'll probably go back to using a vending machine.

 

[zwk500]

Did you make 100% sure you selected the correct option to not share any personal info when registering with LNER? Also check it hasn't been inadvertently reset since you set it up.

 

[Chris Butler]

If you look at the LNER privacy policy you'll see the twenty or so categories of other organisations with whom they may share your data. The idea that it stays with LNER is very wide of the mark.

Since your ticket is a contract with SWR it doesn't seem unreasonable that SWR need to be able to contact you. Having said all that, the long list in the LNER policy does not include explicitly "Other TOCs whose tickets you buy from us." but just a more generic "business partners".

 

[OscarH]

Did you use the WiFi on the train? I got a similar email after a past trip on SWR when I'd never booked with them, it had the same sentence at the end about "because I bought a ticket", but the email address definitely came from the WiFi (it was an email that is only used for free WiFi)

 

[island]

I suspect this will not have been from LNER passing information on, more likely from on-train WiFi.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I really don't think we would pass anything onto another TOC but it's not my area.

 

[alistairlees]

I suspect this will not have been from LNER passing information on, more likely from on-train WiFi.

I'd agree here

 

[Starmill]

Have you ever signed up for an account with SWR, even if you didn't use it to buy any tickets? Also worth checking as above if you've ever signed into any WiFi on trains or stations.

You could email LNER to ask them to clarify their privacy policy if you really want to also. You could ask if it makes provision for any usage data to be shared with SWR.