Last Wednesday, I called 153 to inquire about the telephone number of the Passport Office. The lady who answered my call was most helpful.

After forwarding the requested details, she went out of her way and asked if she could assist me further in order to save me from calling the office in question.  As the reason for my query was to ask about the opening hours on a Wednesday, she offered the information to which I wasmost appreciative.

My only concern in respect to this call was that, before ending the call but without sounding invasive, she asked for my ID number. As I deemed this pointless, considering the simple nature of the call, I very politely turned down her request for which she did not object.

With all this hype going round about data protection, I wonder why a caller should be made to provide one’s personal details just for asking about the contact details of a government department.

At the end of the day, 153 is a government information service provider though, hopefully, not becoming the Big Brother.