The o2 telephone service provider launched their new Bluebook service early in 2008 to allow customers to store all their personal information such as their phone book, SMS messages and MMS messages as a simple backup solution.

O2 are one of UK's largest network providers and their website holds an "Excellent Customer Respect Award - O2 is ranked best of the UK Telco sites, firmly in to the ‘Excellent’ category, in the Q1 2007 report." according to The Customer Respect Group. After recurring loopholes in their website code, this award should no longer stand as it lightly discriminates the Trade Descriptoons Act 1968^[3].

To advertise this new service to their existing customers, o2 sent an SMS alerting them that they could use this new feature or cancel it if they do not wish to use it which basically meant that their personal data had already been stored online before acquiring any consent from their customers.

O2 state on their website that their customers messages are “in a safe place online.”^[1] However, in early February 2008, customers who were logged into their own Bluebook could change the unique identification number in the URL and access random messages from other customers' Bluebook. This isn't the first occasion in which the URL code could be manipulated as it has happened with o2 twice before.

Personally, I do not see a need to back up multimedia messages or text messages online when you can simply use your data cable and put your photos on your computer along with all your other phone data. Providing you do this regularly, there should be no need to allow you personal data do be stored.

With ISP's they have the capabilities of tracking phonecall, SMS and MMS data in order to allow emergency services to pinpoint your location. This means that your data is viewable upon request. Even if you call o2 with a billing enquiry they can tell you the last number you called, what your messages said and how many you sent. This alone is rather concerning, atleast it should be encrypted somehow.

The o2 Bluebook service is completely free, however they do charge you to SMS your media messages to the online storage space when use their unique number (40202). Not only can you store your personal information online, you can also share it with other people with a link to pass on to them.

In conclusion, the Bluebook backup service is ideal for those who do not remember to store their phone data regularly or lose their phone often. You should be aware when allowing data to be stored by another party of the security they have in place and the privacy policy involving your personal data. It is advised that you read these thoroughly before accepting any services. The only change I would suggest that o2 make is to inform their customers of the service before signing them up to save them the hassle of opting out or their data already being stored without prior consent.

References:
[1] http://bluebook.o2.co.uk/jsps/findoutmore
[2] http://www.o2.co.uk/abouto2/pressroom/uktelecommunicationscompaniesranke...
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Descriptions_Act