BBC I Player. Now we need to register! !!

mickledore

mickledore

Messages
9,372
Edit My Images
Yes
Just tried to view something on iPlayer and told I can't watch it without creating an account and logging in. Seems it's so they can tailor watching suggestions to my preferences!!! I don't need no computer programme to tell me what to watch.

So is this all about licence fee dodging or what? Seems like they want every bit of personal info that is possible to record.

Anyone know what this is all about? I've given up with C4 catch up because of their stooping login rigmarole.

Dammit. I'm not interested in Royal Blood at Glastonbury. Going to have to talk to the wife.
 
Yes. It does look big brother. They want postcode, email, date of birth and even gender. I declined to answer that last one. About the only thing they didn't ask was ethnicity which is a major omission from the PC correct at all times BBC.

I've registered and am now on the iPlayer but every two or three minutes it just hangs for 20 seconds or so.

Damned frustrating.
 
mickledore said:
Seems like they want every bit of personal info that is possible to record
Click to expand...

DoB, postcode & gender (which you don't have to give), hardly "every bit of personal info that is possible to record".[/QUOTE]
 
fabs said:
DoB, postcode & gender (which you don't have to give), hardly "every bit of personal info that is possible to record".
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]
But why do they need it?
Stinks of big brother.
But then I don't subscribe to the theory that the powers that be are always right.
 
mickledore said:
But why do they need it?
Stinks of big brother.
But then I don't subscribe to the theory that the powers that be are always right.
Click to expand...
I imagine its to make sure your old enough to watch certain content and that you are resident in the UK. Not really that invasive
 
Last edited:
Didn't it start when you needed a tv licence to view iPlayer? I seem to remember previously you could watch catch-up without a tv licence but they changed that I think last year. Edit: started in September 2016.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37226030

Looks like they first had a 'I've got a licence' click question box but I'm guessing this was easy to click yes without actually having it one. I'm guessing they compare the info given against the licence database.

Edit: probably easier if I just googled the answer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37477229

http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/why-we-are-asking-you-to-sign-in

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...-within-weeks-says-bbc-tv-licence-fee-evasion

Seems it's to tailor the service to users and nothing to do with TV licence enforcement. Sadly the easiest way is if you're not happy providing the details don't use the service. Looks like you can use red button without any log in.
 
Last edited:
mickledore said:
But why do they need it?
Stinks of big brother.
But then I don't subscribe to the theory that the powers that be are always right.
Click to expand...

D0B & postcode, hardly big brother. What do you think they're going to do with that information? It'll tell them the usages by age range an area, that's all.
 
While I also hate having to sign up pointlessly for services, but I thought the BBC requirements weren't too onerous.

Currently you're not forced to register, you can choose "I'll do it later", but that will obviously change in the future.

The information you have to give is:
- Email (use a throwaway one, I can't remember if you have to verify it or not)
- Password
- Display name (doesn't have to be a real one, mine isn't)
- Gender (you can choose not to say)
- Year of birth (not date - I lied)
- Postcode (I was honest as it encompasses a number of addresses, no need for honesty tho')

If/when it gets linked to your licence then I'll revisit my answers, but personally I don't have a problem with that as I'm happy to pay my licence fee.
 
Last edited:
fabs said:
D0B & postcode, hardly big brother. What do you think they're going to do with that information? It'll tell them the usages by age range an area, that's all.
Click to expand...
Well fabs, those in power never see anything wrong in having power. They think that control over others is acceptable. In many walks of life!
 
Digital natives see this as how the world works and a fair deal: I give you some data on me, you give me a service I want, tailored to me. No bothers at all.

Non digital natives often think everything is a conspiracy to get to their lucky charms and only ill can come of it (not taring everyone with that brush but as a generalisation...)

The way the world is monetised has changed, who's missing out?
 
fabs said:
No, it asks for full date.
Click to expand...
Sorry for my mistake, I signed up a few weeks ago (my tiny brain doesn't retain too much pointless stuff these days!).

I was going by my account settings and it only shows year of birth...regardless, mine is a fabrication.
 
Last edited:
I'm afraid your wasting you time Mick, people will share anything these days to get something.
 
Nawty said:
Digital natives see this as how the world works and a fair deal: I give you some data on me, you give me a service I want, tailored to me. No bothers at all.
Click to expand...
Mmm, 'no bothers' until whoever you have signed up with gets hacked. The more info you give sites/apps, the more gets taken. Even on this site, the Android app asked in March in an update for Contacts, Device ID & Call Information.:eek: I asked in a thread why does it/Talkphotography need to know that? :thinking: Marcel said he was going to find out, but never got back with an answer. :( Imho there is no reason for this, and many other apps to know my Contacts, Location, Device ID & Call Information. So in the case of the Talkphotography app I will not update it, and it will work till it needs an update to carry on working, which I won't do.

The BBC thing is to monitor Licence Fee evaders no matter what they say. The iPlayer I access through my TV is already personalised because it remembers what I have searched for. I don't need more personalisation than that.

Nawty said:
Non digital natives often think everything is a conspiracy to get to their lucky charms and only ill can come of it (not taring everyone with that brush but as a generalisation...)
Click to expand...

"Generally" label anyone who wants to be careful with the information that is out there as some conspiracy nut, when it just makes sense to me to be a bit careful. :rolleyes: There have been some massive companies that have been hacked, so there may not be conspiracies, but the information in not 100% safe, so try and limit what you give out.

If you are willing to give any site/app whatever info they want without question, for whatever benefits you think are worith it, then go ahead. And obviously, when I said 'you', it wasn't aimed at you, it was a general 'you'. ;) :LOL:
 
redhed17 said:
Mmm, 'no bothers' until whoever you have signed up with gets hacked. The more info you give sites/apps, the more gets taken. Even on this site, the Android app asked in March in an update for Contacts, Device ID & Call Information.:eek: I asked in a thread why does it/Talkphotography need to know that? :thinking: Marcel said he was going to find out, but never got back with an answer. :( Imho there is no reason for this, and many other apps to know my Contacts, Location, Device ID & Call Information. So in the case of the Talkphotography app I will not update it, and it will work till it needs an update to carry on working, which I won't do.

The BBC thing is to monitor Licence Fee evaders no matter what they say. The iPlayer I access through my TV is already personalised because it remembers what I have searched for. I don't need more personalisation than that.



"Generally" label anyone who wants to be careful with the information that is out there as some conspiracy nut, when it just makes sense to me to be a bit careful. :rolleyes: There have been some massive companies that have been hacked, so there may not be conspiracies, but the information in not 100% safe, so try and limit what you give out.

If you are willing to give any site/app whatever info they want without question, for whatever benefits you think are worith it, then go ahead. And obviously, when I said 'you', it wasn't aimed at you, it was a general 'you'. ;) :LOL:
Click to expand...

Again, it's just D0B and postcode. What do you think hackers are going to do with it? Its a streaming service, no different from Netflix, Prime, ITV, Channel 4 etc who've required users to register for years.

As for monitoring licence evaders, how? It wants postcode only, tey need you house umber as well to check whether you have a licence. Where I live, there are 100+ houses with the same postcode.
 
I'm not bothered about the data being used to check if you have a TV licence and, if you wanted to, I'm guessing you could put in any postcode. Wonder what would happen if you put in W1A 1AA?

Dave
 
If they're asking for emails and passwords potentially those naive enough to use the same across sites could run into bother if the BBC get hacked.

Just seem to be falling in line with Mays internet policy. What was wrong with the old "I'm older than 18" checkbox for mature content for example. Now you have to sign up, because those details aren't hard to fake.. Get the damn parents dealing with what their kids look at rather than effecting the rest of us.
 
Much ado about nothing. I signed up to BBC years ago for news emails and to be able to personalise their website (e.g. Favourite locations for weather forecasts). On the iPlayerRadio you can bookmark programs/series to listen to later which is very useful to me. No doubt they will be offering suggestions in the future which I shall just ignore ;-) . I don't usually give accurate answers about dates of birth etc unless it's for banking or similar, why would you?
 
These days I don't even install the IPlayer app on new devices. I pay for 2 tv licences and wouldn't object to registering but the BBC don't show anything I'm interested in. I prefer to spend my viewing time watching Amazon/Netflix or YouTube.
 
For information that sites really need (e.g. my address when I'm buying something) or that I'm happy to share (e.g what camera I use, on a photography forum), I'll give accurate answers.

For anything else, I'll just use made-up answers, and disposable email addresses. If the BBC want to believe that my post code is AB1 2CD (it isn't) and that my DOB is 01-01-1920 (it isn't), then that's up to them.
 
As a licence fee payer I'm quite happy to see the BBC blocking iPlayer users who don't pay.
 
Last edited:
What if you don't have a postcode ??? Believe it or not there is places without a postcode..where you have to make up crud just to proceed..
 
I hear that sales of tinfoil is booming in the photography community :D :D
 
Once everyone gets used to the idea of having an account, it wouldn't be a huge shock if the next thing they ask for is the number of your TV licence...

Currently the postcode is supposedly required to 'understand how the BBC is used across the country' the BBC also says 'We share some of your personal data with TV Licensing, to check if you are using BBC iPlayer and to keep their database up to date.':
http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/account/why-do-i-have-to-provide-personal-info-when-i-register

My main concern is whether useful utilities like get_iplayer continue to function when registration is mandatory for everyone. Right now it's still optional for me.
 
shannensdaddy said:
What if you don't have a postcode ??? Believe it or not there is places without a postcode..where you have to make up crud just to proceed..
Click to expand...
Example?
 
neil_g said:
I used to work with a guy who had a new build, they didnt have a postcode for weeks. They couldn't get any services or internet hooked up for ages as their address didnt appear in any database.
Click to expand...
Ah, new build is all I could think of, though I can't think why it's not possible to assign a postcode at planning stage even. I'm sort of the other way round in that I have a postcode (though at one point it was changed and my old postcode moved half a mile away and has now disappeared completely) but in the Royal Mail database I have two addresses, one with a house name and one with a number but both at the same postcode. We originally had a house name before a number was agreed.
 
mickledore said:
Just tried to view something on iPlayer and told I can't watch it without creating an account and logging in. Seems it's so they can tailor watching suggestions to my preferences!!! I don't need no computer programme to tell me what to watch.

So is this all about licence fee dodging or what? Seems like they want every bit of personal info that is possible to record.

Anyone know what this is all about? I've given up with C4 catch up because of their stooping login rigmarole.

Dammit. I'm not interested in Royal Blood at Glastonbury. Going to have to talk to the wife.
Click to expand...

Wanna use the service then register.


Simple choices..............:)
 
Apparently some people no longer have this option - they're rolling out compulsory registration gradually.
 
didnt recent legislation require you to have a licence to use iplayer?
so i guess this is a part of that.
 
Well I gotta say, it is a bit awkward when you know having a TV licence is to all intents and purposes, compulsory, its not like you have a viable choice if you want to watch "live TV".
I dunno why its "live TV" and not just the BBC since that is where the licence fee goes, I guess its just more convenient for them that they don't have to deal with opt outs.
So ya know what, I've paid my fee for BBC content, they know I've paid, there is no legitimate reason to database everyone that uses iplayer, if that's the way they want it to go, make the thing subscription based and reduce the licence fee for people that don't use it.
It'll never happen of course, there are too many people that don't care and content will continue to be subsidized by people who do.
Its a reflection of the political landscape in that the option to choose something other than the systemic, does not exist.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top