T 3.45 Inadequate checking of the identity of communication partners

Within the framework of personal conversations on the phone or via email, many people are willing to provide far more details than they would in writing or if more people were present. In so doing, the communication partner is often implicitly expected to treat the contents of the conversations or emails confidential. Furthermore, people tend to not to question the identity of the communication partner, because this is deemed impolite. This is also applicable to further questions regarding the reason for the call or the customer ("I work for the XY bank and need some detailed information about your property relationships."). Such behaviours are also leveraged in the field of "Social Engineering" (see also T 5.42 Social Engineering).

Example:

We know many cases where journalists called celebrities on the phone and pretended to be another celebrity. This way, they elicit statements from the celebrities that were not intended for the public. This was particularly controversial during a couple of direct broadcasts on the radio where it was not possible to undo the disclosure.