| [This post is updated here] Overnight, this blog - or the post about Black Lives Matter callsign, GB9BLM, received over 2000 visits. I also received an apology from QRZ.com, both on their forum and privately. Note I do not accept the explanation given, not least because someone has found ~50 other GB9 calls on the QRZ DB lists. I myself have had several GBx calls previously on QRZ.com, without issue.  The cause of so many visits was a supporter looking at what exactly had happened, when and how. This is now a forum topic on QRZ.com, though I note it has now been shut down to new comments, which is probably a good idea from QRZ.com's point of view. The key fact is that QRZ.com made the sole, specific claim that I had provided "false information" to their database in the form of the callsign GB9BLM, and that their 'OFCOM database' showed there was no such thing as a GB9 callsign. Accordingly, they removed the GB9BLM listing and page. I am not sure what database this is, or how it is their claimed database access is so up-to-date that it includes a callsign allocated automatically only a few days earlier. (SEE: 'EPILOGUE' POST FOR LATEST ON THIS) All a bit odd, because now the army of supporters find plenty of examples of GB9 callsigns existing on the QRZ.com database, and which have not been removed for the reason that QRZ.com specifically gave of the callsign representing false information.
That, and the fact that GB9BLM ran successfully, without complaint or problem, on QRZ.com for several days before someone - hiding behind an anonymous admin cover - removed it. Indeed, a day or so after I had activated the callsign on QRZ.com, I asked for the automatically-allocated 'England' flag (itself showing that it wasn't an invalid call) for GB9BLM to be changed for Wales, which required a support ticket looked at by, presumably, a human operator. This was done in a few hours, again with no protest or complaint (or banning of the page). Today, I was advised by a supporter that GB9BLM has been restored on QRZ.com. So has my usual callsign. "The support team sent the following message: Jan, Now that authenticity has been established, We have reinstated the GB9BLM listing, as well as your account(s). Please accept our apologies for the incident. 73 QRZ 73, The QRZ Support Team" Unfortunately for QRZ.com, I have not authorised the re-publication of my personal details on their page, which I had asked them to - and they had acted upon and confirmed in writing - to remove permanently. This is a clear breach of GDPR and provides all those of a violent inclination with the address to go to, should they want to take direct action. To be clear, just because someone at QRZ.com has either realised someone acted outside their actual policies, or simply that this was just too much like bad press, regardless of their beliefs, I myself have not asked to reinstate my account, and have not authorised the publication of any of it. I am also not planning to use QRZ.com ever again, unless QRZ.com publish a full apology on their landing page, explaining why they claimed GB9 callsigns do not exist when even a cursory knowledge of callsigns shows they do and when ~50 GB9 calls already exist - like mine did for some days - on their own site. The latest is that I received an apology for "the incident" (and not an 'error') from QRZ.com, claiming that "authenticity has been established" by now. I'm sorry, QRZ.com. Whilst I accept there is a degree of amends attempted here, the clinging to the story that the GB9 call prefix was somehow illegitimate simply won't wash. At all. And remember, my normal callsign wasn't removed because of authenticity issues, as the apology implies: that has run since 2011 on QRZ.com, and was removed because I asked for it to be removed. | ||
Ham radio on the cheap, encouraging newcomers to the hobby, and a bit of science.
