We should have to ‘opt in’

WE wonder how many people are aware that their council could be selling on their personal details to marketing companies for profit?

The fact local authorities are able to pass on the details of residents who have registered to vote to the likes of estate agents and pizza companies is concerning.

Granted, local councils in Sussex say they do not actively tout the details for sale and only pass on information from the ‘open register’ when they are approached.

But with the upcoming election on the cards, news of this nature will definitely not be encouraging people to vote. After all, nobody wants to receive cold calls from companies they have never heard of.

At the moment it is down to residents to tell the council if they do not want this to happen. We agree with the Electoral Commission, which says residents should have to ‘opt in’ to such an agreement instead of putting the onus on them to opt out.

Second biggest and best

ONCE again the Brighton Marathon has been a triumph.

It’s now regarded as the second biggest and best marathon in the country behind the inimitable event some 53 miles north.

Any event that raises in the region of £6 million for charity is special, but when that same amount of money gets ploughed into the city’s economy over the weekend it makes it a powerful day on the calendar.

No records were broken, numbers were slightly down on the estimations, but as race founder Tim Hutchings said: “It doesn’t matter.”

What does matter is that nearly 10,000 people got round the course for a host of different reasons.

Beating a personal best, training for future Olympics, raising money for a charity, battling a personal challenge or in memory of someone dear to them.

Whatever the reason, they should all hold their heads up for tackling 26.2 miles of torture.

Blind darts player’s focus

A DARTS player who is partially sighted still has hopes of hitting the bull’s eye.

Jordan Powell may have lost the sight of his right eye but he is fully focused on a career in darts.

Looking for sponsorship, he has 180-vision for the top.