David Light, account director at The Data Partnership, revealed the underhand tactics used by his company to coax information from people . Data bosses have been caught boasting to the Mail of the underhand tactics they use to trick homeowners into giving away their secrets. In meetings with our undercover reporters, they admitted ignoring an official no-call list meant to protect the vulnerable. And they said they could never be honest with people about the consequences of passing on personal information because then no one would answer their calls. ‘We’re a business at the end of the day,’ one told the Mail. ‘If we was [sic] to then turn round and say, “You’re now going to get 30 calls from this company, that company”, most of the people will probably say, “I don’t want it”. Because they know it’s going to be a sales call.’ Various firms offered to sell personal information to the Mail’s undercover team using data from lifestyle surveys completed by people who had been cold-called from overseas. They claimed that calling offshore meant they could disregard the official Telephone Preference Service (TPS) – even though the Information Commissioner’s Office said this was not true. Once they get people on the phone, the call centre workers ask them to complete a lifestyle survey. They start with ‘soft’ questions that seem harmless before going into ones about personal finances. While a brief disclaimer is read, bosses admitted victims do not realise answering the questions will lead to dozens of calls from different companies. Scroll down for video . The questions are sponsored by firms looking to target people with specific interests, and answers are sold on. So even if a caller has signed up to the TPS, saying yes to a survey question is seen to override this, giving the companies the green light to cold call them again. An undercover reporter from the Mail met David Light, account director at The Data Partnership (TDP), which has a 60-seater call centre in the Philippines and calls hundreds of thousands in Britain every month. Mr Light's company has a 60-seater call centre in the Philippines and calls hundreds of thousands in Britain every month. He explained that their tactics include starting with warm questions before going more financial . Asked if he thought people doing surveys understood they would get sales calls as a result he said 'generally I don't think some people realise that they're going to get calls' For 8p a record, Mr Light offered to sell the Mail information on people with pensions who had completed a survey as long as four years ago . He said: ‘So at the top you have your typical questions which are nice and easy, warm questions to open up – what is the age of your TV. ‘When you start going more financial – how much you’re earning, would you like a [pension] review – [they say] “no I’m not interested. I don’t want any sales calls. No, I’m going, bye”.’ Mr Light said any answers given before the call ended were taken as confirmation that the caller was happy to be on marketing lists in future. ‘I mean, we’re a business at the end of the day,’ he said. ‘When you try and dig into people’s lifestyles or try to find out information – with all that goes on with credit card fraud and identity theft – people are a little bit reserved to give out certain information.’ So questions about finance were left to later in the call, he explained. Asked if he thought people doing the surveys understood they would get sales calls as a result, he said: ‘If I’m honest, and I’m always honest, generally I think some people don’t realise that they’re going to get calls.’ Mr Light said his firm try to get round the no-call list by ringing mobiles – which few realise can be on the TPS – and by calling from abroad. ‘The problem we’re having now, a lot of it might be on the TPS register. Hence why when we call out offshore,’ he said. ‘Certain companies will say to us, “Can you run it against the TPS file and tell us what you’ve got which is non-TPS?” OK, fine. But the volumes will drop drastically.’ Asked how the firm gets away with calling people registered with the TPS, he said: ‘Because it’s offshore.’ He claimed, wrongly, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regulations govern only calls within the UK. For 8p a record, Mr Light offered to sell the Mail information on people with pensions who had completed a survey as long as four years ago. The Data Partnership is run by John Pooley, 38, and his wife Victoria, 35, who claim they are the ‘good guys’ in ‘an industry rife with cowboys’. They started more than a decade ago from a garage in Chelmsford before turning it into a firm with a turnover of more than £2million. A spokesman said: ‘We strongly refute any allegations which suggest TDP is in any way contravening the law or any recognised code of practice. Respondents to our telephone-based surveys are informed from the outset that our surveys are being carried out for marketing purposes. They are not for market research. If respondents “opt-in” they clearly expect to receive calls and be contacted again.’ Data firm Communication Avenue also admitted calling names on the TPS register from call centres in the Philippines, India and South Africa. Account manager Byron Highfield told us: ‘If you’re wanting to sponsor a question then no, we wouldn’t TPS it, because we have their name and they asked if they’re interested in receiving a call back.’ Communication Avenue is owned by Philip and Charlotte Lightfoot and is a rebranding of Phruit, which was suspended by the Direct Marketing Association in 2011 for calling people on the TPS and selling under the guise of research. The Data Partnership has strongly refuted allegations suggesting it is contravening the law or any recognised code of practice . The firm said it does not own offshore call centres but buys survey data from other firms, including The Data Partnership. Mr Lightfoot said: ‘Communication Avenue takes compliance very seriously.’ Steve Eckersley, the ICO’s head of enforcement, said: ‘Organisations cannot get around the law by pretending to conduct market or lifestyle research. Market research should be just that – market research without the intention of passing on people’s details. Using a foreign call centre does not get you out of your commitments to consumers.’ David Light said callers start with 'soft' questions like 'how old is your main TV in you property' Data Partnership’s David Light boasted to a Mail undercover reporter of the tactics used by his firm to coax information from people it cold calls. ‘When you try and dig into people’s lifestyles or try to find out information – with all that goes on with credit card fraud and identity theft – people are a little bit reserved to give out certain information. ‘Like if you was to call me and say, “What’s your household income?”, I don’t wish to answer that. I don’t want to tell you what I’m earning. Because, I don’t know, you could be some lucrative crime gang, know where I live, know I earn over £50k a year, and you think right, well if he’s earning more than £50k a year, he’s probably going to have a nice car, he’s probably going to have some nice valuables in there. ‘So we find that when you get to them sort of questions, we leave them to the bottom of the survey. So at the top you have your typical questions which are nice and easy, warm questions to open up – How old is your main TV in your property? Is it less than one year, one to five years or five years plus? Which newspaper do you read? Do you have Sky through a satellite dish? Yes? OK, when’s your household insurance up for renewal? What month only. So soft questions. ‘When you start going more financial – how much you’re earning, would you like a [pension] review? – [they say] “No I’m not interested. I don’t want any sales calls. No, I’m going, bye”. They put the phone down. So we’ve only got the opt in for them answers what they’ve opted in. ‘If I’m honest, and I’m always honest, generally I think some people don’t realise that they’re going to get calls. I mean, we’re a business at the end of the day. If you go, “You’re going to get 30 calls on the back of this”, you’re going to get a consumer going, “I don’t want to tell you any information”. It’s natural, it’s human nature. ‘If we was to then turn round and say at the end of the survey call, “Right you’re now going to get 30 calls from this company, that company”, most of the people will probably say, “I don’t want it”. ‘Nine times out of ten they’ll probably say, “No I don’t want to be contacted by that company” because they know it’s going to be a sales call.’
Data bosses were caught boasting their underhand tactics to reporters . They admitted ignoring and official no-call list meant to protect vulnerable . Said they couldn't be honest with people because they wouldn't answer . David Light of Data Partnership revealed tactics used to coax information . For 8p a record he also offered to sell information on people with pensions .