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‘Text pests’: ‘All I wanted was a girl’s week away, but it turned into a nightmare’

Nearly a third of young people have had unwanted propositions from "text pest" staff at firms that have their personal details, the UK's data watchdog says.

26-year-old radio producer, Paige, spoke to 5 Live’s Naga Munchetty about her experience of GDPR harassment from a hotel receptionist, “all I wanted was a girl’s weekend away, but it turned into a nightmare to be honest”.

As she was checking into a hotel, Paige was asked to present her drivers license - she later received messages on social media from this employee asking if she was single.

“This person has not only got my name, but has seen my [drivers] license with my address on”.

Paige described feeling “on edge” as the employee asked about her plans for the evening- “we were going out but we didn’t want to tell him where we were”.

“It seems like it's happening to so many women, where their details are being abused... something needs to be done."

This clip is from Naga Munchetty on 9 May 2023.

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