09.01.06
EBay Faces Accusation Over Data Retention
 By
Doug Caverly
Privacy International (PI) has accused eBay of employing unfair "data retention practices."
The online auction site was targeted because it is not one of the worst offenders - PI hopes that a less-than-clear-cut situation will lead to an unambiguous ruling on data retention policies.
"Under the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA)," stated The Register's Lucy Sherriff, "firms are obliged to allow people to delete their registration information."
eBay's practices tend to follow the letter of that law, rather than the spirit. The UK's Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is investigating the matter.
Simon Davies, PI's director, explained the matter in Sherriff's article. "There are two categories of offenders in cases like this," he said. "eBay is a category two offender, which means that it does provide an opt out option, but it is not easy to find."
eBay's opt out option, as described by Davies, "effectively prevents all but the most diligent and persevering customers from deleting their personal information from the site."
Still, the option exists, which could make it difficult to prove the allegations before the ICO.
"We could probably win if we challenged a category one offender," Davies said to Sherriff, "but what we want is a set of clear, enforceable guidelines requiring companies to prominently display an account delete function."
eBay also apparently spoke to The Register, which said it claimed that "users can delete their registration information, and that it only shares user data with law enforcement agencies." The company, the article continued, "could face a hefty fine, or prosecution, if the ICO finds the company guilty of breaking the DPA rules."
There were no estimates as to when any decisions might be made.
About
the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.
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