PR teams monitoring social networking sites for customer grievances against their clients have been accused of spying on conversations and making unsolicited calls in a bid to resolve customer complaints.
A number of leading UK companies, including BT, easyJet and Carphone Warehouse, are known to be using tracking software to identify complaints about their brands on social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
They are using specialist software, such as Debatescape, to detect key words and phrases that suggest a negative conversation about their brand so that they can contact the person making the comments with a view to resolving their complaint.
But the practice has sparked a media row, with critics slamming it as another example of Big Brother and even questioning the legality of the approach.
However, the PR community has hit back by saying that this was another case of the media making a mountain out of a molehill.
They argue that these companies are not picking up anything private and that the response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive.
And in all but a minority of cases, customers are only too delighted that companies take their concerns seriously by contacting them to address their problems.
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