PhonepayPlus is doing a good job, but there is always room for improvement. A few fines handed down to some premium rate phone and text companies indicates that the regulatory body is serious about making sure that companies operate strictly under the code of practice.

There are many mobile phone users that have been cheated out of millions of pounds and have not complained or protested against such charges on their bill. In February PhonepayPlus fined two Dutch companies R&D Media Europe and Unavalley BV £100,000 each for taking advantage of well-known websites such as Wikipedia, Twitter and YouTube to operate a quiz based premium rate text service and breaching the code of practice.

When many of these premium rate service companies can make £100 or more easily on a single phone, it is basically a money making machine considering the methods employed by these companies to get a high user participation. Whatever the methods employed to participate in premium rate activities, it is my estimate that 4 out of every 5 people do not complain. 2 out of those 4 people when they see premium rate charges on their bills will call their mobile phone company, after which they will simply accept the charge because they consider it too much effort to pursue a refund on the premium rate charge or because their phone company has told them the charge will stand.

When you search the internet you will find hundreds and hundreds of complaints about people complaining on how they have been ripped-off out of hundreds of pounds because of one premium-rate service or another. Children seem to be the most vulnerable target of these premium-rate companies, but what makes matters worse is that the government and the regulatory authorities seem unable to find an appropriate solution to ensure that children and other vulnerable people are not unduly taken advantage off.

Mobile phone operators, premium rate services companies and PhonePayPlus would argue that sending "STOP" and "STOP ALL" should stop you receiving premium rate messages, but I believe this does not go far enough because you can send "STOP" and "STOP ALL" to a premium rate number and still request to take part in whatever services that the company offers minutes later. Also, there is no way to prevent someone vulnerable from making calls to a premium line and incurring a huge phone bill as a result.

The simple solution to this problem is a national "DO NOT CONTACT" database that would be made available to all premium rate services companies and mobile phone companies. This database does not require the names and addresses of the phone owner, as the phone number alone would be enough to validate whether it should receive or send any premium rated related text or call.

Registration to be put on this database would be through their mobile phone operator and can be done via the account owner's online account, sending a text message to a specific number or calling customer services. For a phone registered on the database to start receiving or sending premium rated messages or calls, the account owner would have to request this through their mobile phone operator to be delisted from the database. The process of delisting would take 21 days.

PhonePayPlus will be the custodian of the database with update access given to all the mobile phone operators, while PhonePayPlus will commit those updates. When a new phone is about to be activated part of the activation process would be asking the customer whether they want to be registered on the "DO NOT CONTACT" database. Once registered on this database the owner of the phone will not be able to send or receive premium rate messages or make any premium rate calls.

The premium rate services companies would be made to adopt this database as part of the code of practice, and any violation i.e. allowing send, receive and making calls to premium rate number would incur a minimum penalty of £1000 per call or text to a phone number registered in the database. Premium rate companies would be responsible for implementing systems to ensure that call barring to registered numbers are enforced.

The code of practice by which all premium rate services companies must abide by has a number of sections that protect children from being exploited by using any of these services. Unfortunately not enough is being done to clamp down on companies that offer premium rate services to discriminate on who can and cannot use their services. It is my opinion that Phone Pay Plus needs to get tougher where children and vulnerable people are involved in the use of the a premium service that they should not be using.

The first section protecting children is 2.3.9 which says "Premium rate services must not directly appeal to children to purchase products or take advantage of children’s potential credulity, lack of experience or sense of loyalty". Many companies offering premium rate services break this rule by not asking or confirming that the person playing the game is over 16 years of age according the code of practice. This should be part of the first text message sent which must be free of charge, and must also state the cost of receiving subsequent text messages.

The next section protecting children is 2.3.12(b) which says "Services aimed at, or which should have been expected to be particularly attractive to children, must terminate immediately when a maximum of £2.56 plus VAT per call, or in the case of a subscription service a maximum of £2.56 plus VAT per month, has been spent". An example of a service that is particularly attractive to children is those quiz competitions that say you can win a an iPhone or iPad. We know that children are becoming more and more attracted to all these latest gadgets and are likely to be sucked into playing these premium rate quiz competitions. It is my opinion that premium rate services under this rule must make any refunds immediately and without prejudice if a parent or guardian can claim that the phone to which a premium rate charge was made belongs to a child and exceeded £2.56 plus VAT.

The final section protecting children in the code of practice is 2.5.8 which says "Premium rate services aimed at or likely to be particularly attractive to children must not contain anything which a reasonable parent would not wish their child to see or hear in this way". In a recent report by the BBC, the broadcaster said that children as young as 8 are being exposed to sexual explicit material on the internet, and this can also be accessed through premium rate services. Just search the internet forums and you find many parents complaining how their child was able to gain access to adult material and gambling through the use of premium rate services. This section is a very powerful section because it gives you the power as a parent or the guardian the right to say "I am not happy that my child was able to gain easy access to your content, and on that basis I claiming for a full refund on any costs incurred" Maybe, if we continue to take action and complain against these premium rate services, more will be done to ensure that our children's vulnerability is not exploited.

Section 5.3.14 defines a child, it says "Child’ or ‘Children’ means a person/people under 16 years of age". This in my opinion must be raised to 18 years of age because at 16 some children still need a lot of hand holding and guidance, and many parents and guardians will agree with me on this issue. To raise the age will really show commitment on the side of the regulator for premium services that it is serious about protecting children. To find out more about the premium rate services code of practice or to download a copy please visit the Phone Pay Plus website at code.phonepayplus.org.uk.

I have been reading the Phone Pay Plus Code of Practice over the last few days and made some findings which is worth sharing. In the Code of Practice for Premium rate services, it says under section 2.3.10 "Premium rate services must not seek to take advantage of any vulnerable group or any vulnerability caused to consumers by their personal circumstances".

Children fall into this group, but mobile phone companies and Phone Pay Plus do not provide any help to protect children from becoming victims to this service. This is a big shame because I believe more can be done to help children make the right decision.

For example mobile phone companies can allow their customers register mobile phones on a vulnerable database, this would mean that all registered premium-rate numbers cannot send a message to the registered phone, neither would that phone be able to subscribe to such a service.

I speak to many parents who are torn between continuing to allow their children to use a phone for their own personal safety and the mad charges they might incur as a result of using a premium-rate service.

To further reduce the costs mobile phone companies can pull resources together to develop this vulnerable database. In this way a common goal is achieved that does not give any other mobile phone company an undue advantage. It also shows that any company that does not sign up is willing to take advantage of the vulnerable which is bad PR for that company.

One of the problems I have with premium-rate text messages is the fact that many of the companies that operate these numbers do not state the cost of sending or receiving premium-rate text messages, as a result you can easily be sucked into subscribing to a service that will end up costing you a lot of money.

Phone Pay Plus must make it mandatory for companies to show the cost of the service in the first text message sent to a mobile phone, this will enable the user decide whether they would like to continue with the service.

Some companies will state that the information is located on their website but this can be easily changed, also you can use programming language used to design the website to hide or show this information, so I do think the regulatory body must take action to address this.

Yesterday I wrote a post on where to get the best deals if you were planning to get the HTC One X. The research work done was based on information on all the major mobile phone network websites, however there are some websites that you can get the HTC One X and many other amazing smartphones at amazing bargain price plans.

For example you can get the HTC One X at buymobilephones.net with T-Mobile for 750MB of internet data, 300 talk minutes and unlimited data for just £26 per month on a 24 month contract. The same amazing deal can be found at the Phone Shop on the Tesco website. This deal is far better than the best deal from Tesco Mobile in yesterday's blog post.

So hunt around on the internet for the best deals, be thorough and relentless as there are always great deals to be had. You should also haggle with your mobile phone supplier to offer you a better deal than what you have found on any of the websites, this can include asking for an 18 month contract, instead of the 24 month that is on offer. Remember if you don't ask you don't get.

The HTC One X has arrived to raving reviews and is quickly gaining a reputation of being one of the best Android smartphones on the market alongside the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  This led me to think which of the UK's main mobile phone network providers offer the best deals on this amazing smartphone whereby you do not have to pay anything for the phone. This post will base the evaluation on a number of criteria like contract period, internet data allowance, talk minutes, text messages, monthly cost, and insurance. A winner for each category will be selected, and overall best deal on the HTC One X. Virgin mobile and Talk Mobile at the time of this blog post did not carry the HTC One X.

Contract Period

To get the HTC One X free, you'll have to sign up to an 24 month contract with all of the mobile phone companies, personally I am not a big fan of the 24 contract period, as such if I was due a new phone soon I'll wait another 3 months down the line when the phone will become available free on an 18 month contract. In this category there is no overall winner.

Monthly Cost

To get this phone free you'll have to pay a minimum of £41 per month to Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile. O2 is £36, Three is £35, while the best deal is from Tesco Mobile on £30 making it the overall winner on monthly cost.

Internet Data

Orange, Vodafone and O2 all offer a minimum of 1GB of internet data, and Tesco Mobile offers 500MB, half of what the previous 3 mobile phone suppliers, while T-Mobile and Three offer unlimited internet data on their lowest free handset monthly pay plan for the HTC One X. Internet data winner; T-Mobile and Three.

Talk Minutes

Orange and Vodafone offer 900 minutes free on there cheapest HTC One X free plan at £41, while O2 and T-Mobile offer unlimited talk minutes at £36 and £41 respectively. Three is 500 minutes at £35 and Tesco Mobile is 750 minutes at £30 per month. In my opinion Tesco Mobile is the overall winner in this category because the unlimited minutes is subject to a fair usage policy which means that you could have your privileges revoked if you are recorded to be a heavy user.

Text Messages

Orange, Vodafone, O2 and T-Mobile all offer unlimited texts, while Three and Tesco Mobile offer 5000 texts. 5000 text messages is quite a lot to go through in a month, so I am still persuaded to make Tesco Mobile the winner in this category.

Phone Insurance.

Orange Care is priced at £6 per month for a minimum of 4 months, Vodafone insurance is £9.99 for a minimum of 3 months, Fonesafe insurance by T-Mobile costs £8.99 per month for a minimum of 3 months, O2 insurance costs £10 per month, but the the minimum terms are not specifically stated, Three does not offer phone insurance with any of their handsets, while Tesco Phone Insurance will cost £8 per month. Remember there will be an insurance excess that you have to pay when making a claim. Winner in the phone insurance category is Orange.

Winner

If you are ready to take out a 24 month contract and get the HTC One X without having to make a payment towards it then Tesco Mobile offers the best deal at £30 per month. The only chink in this monthly plan for the HTC One X is the 500MB of data, but if you do not use a lot in internet data on a monthly basis then this should be more than enough. You may say that other mobile phone companies offer unlimited packages, and yes they do, but unless you are an extreme user you better off on a generous package like what Tesco Mobile offers. O2 will be my second choice because at £36 you get 1GB of internet data, unlimited talk minutes and unlimited text.

Phone insurance was not taken into consideration when choosing the overall winner because of the varying excess payments between mobile phone companies when you need to make a claim on a lost or damaged phone.

As a customer you may find that your mobile phone company offers a better deal if you can get attractive offers from other suppliers, remember their aim is to try and retain you as a customer, so shop around for a bargain. There is always a better deal to be found, than what is offered on the websites, or in the shops.

As you may have gathered by now I am with Orange, and my bills are delivered electronically to my online account on a monthly basis. However, I no  longer get a notification saying that my new bill is ready for viewing, the last time I got a notification was September last year. I am certain I did not deactivate this feature, so it will be interesting to know why I no longer get the notifications.

Whether you get a notification or not, there is always the possibility that you may forget to regularly check your bill, and this is where things can quickly get out of hand especially if you have other family members on your account.

You need to check your bill regularly for the following reasons:

Checking your bill regularly will enable you to take immediate action if you spot any irregularities or abnormalities.

Checking your bill will enable you to know whether your data plan for a phone is under-utilised or over-utilised, prompting you to take action and have your data plan reviewed.

Data plans can easily be exceeded and quickly become very expensive, logging regularly on to get an updated status on data usage with prevent the possibility of getting a very expensive bill.

Finally, checking your bill regularly would enable you plan your budget.

With household bills being tightly squeezed there is no need to pay a single penny above what you need to spend with your mobile phone supplier. So take action today and make it a regular habit to check online bills.

Mobile phone companies should be seen to do all they can to help us manage our phone bills, unfortunately that responsibility is mainly left to the customer to work out on their own. So here are the services that mobile phone providers should provide to enable us manage our monthly bills efficiently.

Call barring on premium text and premium phone numbers, especially where we have our children on our account.

Barring on unsolicited text messages; this will prevent premium-rate SMS numbers from reaching your phone, let alone claiming that you subscribed to their services.

An alert when any of the services provided by your mobile has reached its limit. So be it text, calls, video calls or internet data you should be able to know when you are approaching your pay plan's limit and when you have exceeded it.

Financial status alert on all phones on your account to ensure that you do not exceed your monthly budget. Part of this feature will be the ability to stop any further outgoing calls when a phone has exceeded its financial limit.

Getting the best mobile phone deal for a family is always a juggling act. Moving to a different provider is difficult to consider when other members of the family still have contracts that are still running. So how do you get the best family deal?

Since it is likely that all family members contracts end up at different times, everyone in the family can continue with their payment plans until the last contract lapses, once this is reached you can negotiate a better deal with your current supplier or move to another supplier altogether. You need to know what you want to achieve from the deal you are looking for, but you have to let the supplier show their hand first, because what the supplier might offer might exceed your expectations.

So here are the things that you should aim to achieve when negotiating for a new contract for the whole family:

Make sure that the new contract for all family members all end at the same time. 18 months seem to be the best contract deal on the market at the moment.

Do your ground work. Make sure that all the desired handsets are available with the supplier and that it is offered free, if not let your supplier know that the other supplier if offering it for free. Even if it is not free, ask to get if for free.

Make sure that the plans you choose suits each member of the family, remember you are stuck with your contract for at least 18 months if you choose wrongly.

If you need to pay for any of the handset like the iPhone, you can still haggle on the price you pay for the handset, remember you are bringing a reasonable lucrative account to their business.

I normally get app recommendations from Google Play formerly called Android Market, and one of the apps that was recommended by Google Play was Battery SuperCharger, but this app comes with a sting in the tail which was not immediately apparent to me. It was not until I was checking my phone bill this month that I realised I was charged £4.50 by premium-rate SMS number 60181, you can read more about this in a previous posting.

When downloading any app from any app store make sure that you are in control of what you want from the app. Read the questions that pop up as dialog boxes before answering "YES", "NO" or "CANCEL", and read all text messages that may generated soon after the app has been downloaded. Also read the Terms and Conditions for downloading the app. I am not saying that all apps will have this tricky issue, it's just to beware.

I am certain that Google Play did not know the app had a premium-rate SMS fee applied to whoever downloads the app, which in the real sense makes the app a paid for app. Again, my advice is to check your bill constantly, because if I had not done so I would have been charged £4.50 twice a month, making it one of the most expensive apps out there, luckily I was only charged once before I sent STOP to 60181.

I have done a search on Google Play and it seems that Battery SuperCharger has now been removed from the app store. Thanks Google!

I was speaking to a Phone Pay Plus advisor today who told me the fact that a premium-rate text charge appears on my bill is evidence that the service was subscribed to. This leads me to believe that the mobile phone user is still far away from winning the battle against unscrupulous premium-rate SMS vendors who can send premium text indiscriminately to your mobile and charge you for it. Phone Pay Plus is not fighting enough for us the users, and there is still a lot that needs to be done.

I had some good news today regarding the £80 premium text charge on my eleven year old son's phone bill. The company Mobile Interactive Group agreed to refund all the premium-rate SMS charges on the account, so it has been a battle worth fighting for. I am not saying that if you complain to the company that you will get a refund, but it has to be worth a try.

I found another forum on the web called www.nuisancecalls.org.uk that members have been registering their gripes about premium rate texts. A member by the name of Jon carefully articulated how to complain to your phone company when you find out that you have been charged for a service that you did not subscribe to. So here is what Jon had to say plus a template letter of complaint.

If you get any unwanted premium rate texts, you should send an email or registered letter to the customer service department of your mobile network with the following text (replace O2 with your network's name): " I have received a number of unsolicited premium rate texts from 82344 (replace relevant number here). I do not have an agreement, contract or relationship of any kind or form with this scam company, hence all texts sent to me were sent illegally as per 2003 E-Privacy Regulations. The money taken from my account was also taken illegally as per the 1968 Theft Act. Since my contract is with O2 and it is O2 that has knowingly or unknowingly been complicit in this theft I expect one the following from O2:

I expect O2 to refund the money illegally taken from my account and O2 to take this up with the scammers.

I expect O2 to provide me with a full and detailed audit trail proving that I subscribed for this service and that the money was taken legally.

Please advise me within 48 hours of receipt of this email, which of the two above actions O2 will be taking. If I do not receive a satisfactory reply within 48 hours I will be making a formal complaint to Oftel, reporting the theft to the Police and initiating legal action". It’s almost a certainty the network will not have any proof of a subscription, they may have details of texts sent or received, but unless they can provide the content of those texts then they can't prove that you subscribed. They will have to refund the money or get the scammers to refund the money (make sure you get a FULL refund). I did all of the above with O2 and they finally stopped giving me the run-around and got me a refund. Don't let them fool you into thinking you signed up by accident, or you weren't paying attention, this is nothing but a SCAM. The scammers buy your number from mailing lists or simply auto generate it from known number ranges.

I am not certain about the full implications of taking a pre-emptive move sending STOP to premium-rate SMS numbers, but it has to be worth it. So instead of getting a surprise on your phone bill, you can surprise the premium-rate SMS vendor that you do not want to hear from them at all by sending STOP.

So what we are going to do is build a database of all the premium-rate SMS numbers. I will post the numbers that I have been stung by, and you can add the premium-rate SMS numbers you know of by adding comments to this post.

What I'll do on a periodic basis is send out an updated list of all the SMS numbers to enable you update your STOP list. Going forward will be an app that will access a database of all premium-rate SMS numbers and send a STOP message to all numbers that have not previously been sent a message, but all that is in the future.

So here are the numbers I know, please copy it to your mobile phone and send STOP:

88222, 89995, 69155, 69898, 63555, 60181, 80660, 84459

Advice:

I come from an IT background, and I understand that telecommunications is mainly driven by computers, unlike many years ago when it was driven by switches and capacitors. Your smartphone is a little powerful computer that would have landed man on the moon easily many years ago. So can it be so difficult to implement call barring on premium rate SMS or text messages? Not at all, the simplest solution I can think of is logging into your online account to check a box  which indicates you do not want to send or receive any premium-rated SMS text or make any premium phone calls.

Behind the hood will be the functionality that prevents all premium-rated numbers in the database from ever sending you unsolicited text, as well as sending text to these numbers. To implement this feature cannot seem to be any far from the functionality that enables and disables international roaming on your mobile phone or barring international calls on a phone line at home or in the office. Other solutions for smartphones will be an app that prevents you from sending or receiving premium text messages, the challenge with this is that you have to design an app for all the mobile operating systems.

So why would mobile phone companies not implement a system that the customer can enable to bar international calls? There are two reasons that immediately come to mind. First, all the mobile phone companies are probably waiting for each other to take the first step and that brings me on to the second reason. Premium-based SMS is major source of income to these phone companies bringing in tens of millions of pounds every month. It's a cash cow for then, so why kill the goose that lays the golden egg?

I have been surfing the web for complaints regarding premium rate SMS charges just to make sure I am not the only victim of illegal SMS charges, and I was surprised at the number of complaints about mobile phone companies not doing anything about text messages that were never requested and were charged for.

It seems that these premium rate SMS vendors target children more than adults, how they are able to do so is unknown, but reading through the forum posts on whocallsme.com a lot of parents and guardians are furious over this scam and are trying to fight back without much success because all the mobile phone companies give the same standard answer. Orange and O2 seem to be the worst culprits when it comes to handling customer complaints.

I am certain the Phone Pay Plus the organisation that regulates phone-paid services in the UK must have sufficient data to show a common trend that customers are being ripped for services they did not use or request. Is it that the regulator does not have sufficient power to act on behalf of the consumer? Does it mean that parliament has to pass new bill to give Phone Pay Plus more power and bring mobile phone companies in line?

The main reason why the likes of Orange, Vodafone, O2, Three and T-Mobile are not inclined to investigate at any length into customer complaints is because they all get a cut from each premium rate SMS messages sent to their customers, and the revenue runs into tens of millions of pounds every month, therefore it is simply counter-productive to begin to impact your bottom line in such a negative manner.

Things are so bad that even customers on pay-as-you-go are being charged for premium-rate SMS they did not request. So what are we the mobile phone users going to do to put a stop to this unfair and fraudulent act? Below are some recommendations.

Place a comment telling the community about your experience on this blog, or send in a blog post as guest blogger telling us about your experience and the steps you took to address the problem.

If you are having problems with premium phone and text numbers call Phone Pay Plus on 0800 500 212 and complain, Phone Pay Plus is an agency of Ofcom.

Tell your children not to respond to any unsolicited text messages. They should not give the mobile numbers to anyone they do not know and should report any suspicious text messages.

Complain to your mobile phone company and make sure your complaint is logged. When you do so let the company know that blogs like Crunchy Nutter and forums like whocallsme.com are building an audience to protest and change the status quo.

Keep a record of all the illegal premium-rate SMS charges you have incurred.

Is it wrong to have your child on your pay monthly bill? That is exactly what Orange told me, so I have ceased my son's smartphone, and I'll probably hold on to it till his contract lapses after which I will be looking for a new mobile phone supplier for him. My son still claims that he did not send any text message, nor did he receive any from 84459.

The problem started when I checked my phone bill for February and found it was £80 over what we normally pay on a monthly basis. I realised from my bill that a lot of premium text messages on 84459 had been sent and received on my son's phone. Each message sent cost 12pence, while each message received cost £3.00 and there were 25 of them, overall I was £80 out of pocket bringing my son's bill to £110 in total for February. So how did this happen?

The company that owns the number said my son was sent an unsolicited text message saying he could win an Apple product, being a child that he is, he replied to 84459 saying he would like to enter the competition which cost 12pence and the first question was sent which cost £3.00, and 25 questions later the damage was done. However, I want to believe my son because I could not find the number in my son's text message log.

I called Orange and was told that the phone belonged to my 11 year son, and the customer services staff told me it was my mistake putting my son on my pay monthly bill. He said that I should call the company that was responsible for the 84459 number called Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) on 0870 248 0277 (Note: It is cheaper to call 0845 or 0870 number on your land line, than on your mobile phone. Calling on your mobile is exempt from your pay plan). When I called MIG, the person who picked the phone said they were unable to help and the charges will stand.

I have had problems with my son incurring premium call charges before and I had his mobile number changed and put parental control on the phone, but parental control only protects children from adult material which I was not told because I was under the impression that it prevented my son from sending and receiving from premium text and phone numbers.

After not getting far with MIG I called Orange and I spoke to someone who was very helpful who said that I should call Phone Pay Plus the organisation that regulates phone-paid services in the UK on 0800 500 212. Pay Phone Plus told me to call Djummer, the company that originated the premium text messages on 0800 408 0785. Djummer said my son responded to the unsolicited text message therefore I am liable. When I asked for the terms and conditions sent with the text message Djummer said it cannot be sent because it was part of the initial unsolicited text message.

I called Phone Pay Plus and told the regulator what Djummer told me, and was told that they were wrong to have denied my request. The regulator said they will request the terms and conditions on my behalf and expect to hear from Djummer within 3 working days. So that's my story, and the very reason for starting this blog.

Lessons Learned

So what are the lessons that can be learned from this bitter experience?

Do not respond to unsolicited text messages no matter how enticing the text message may be. The only response that you should send to all unsolicited text messages is STOP.

Monitor your bills regularly, since most of us now receive electronic bills it is so easy not to log in and download your phone bills.

If you are having problems with premium phone and text numbers call Phone Pay Plus on 0800 500 212 and complain, Phone Pay Plus is an agency of the Telecom regulator Ofcom.

When you feel ripped-off shout out loud, use this blog or any other means to voice your anger.

In my last post I mentioned about the £4.50 charge I incurred for a multimedia text message I did not request. I did some research on the Internet and it happens that an app called “Battery SuperCharger” which I downloaded to my smartphone was the originator of the text message, and unless I send STOP to 60181 I will be billed every month for £4.50.

The irony is that Google Play, formerly known as Android Market recommended this app to me. This is clearly a rip-off and an unethical means of generating revenue, it amazes me why should apps like this exist in the app store, and not only that, it was promoted by Google Play. There has been many complaints on the web about the company that owns this number.

So here is how we are going to get Battery SuperCharger to stop their actions. Go to Google Play and give the app a 1 star rating and mention in the comments that this app will cost you a £4.50 multimedia text message every month if you download it to your smartphone. If enough of us do this maybe it will get the person or company who owns the app to change its ways.