Possibilities to enforce data privacy in the UK? Thread poster: Erik Freitag
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Erik Freitag 
Germany
Local time: 13:26
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Dear colleagues,
Years ago, I registered with a UK based translation agency. Since I consider this a mistake and don't want to work for them, nor receive mails etc., I requested to delete my account. Surprisingly, this request was denied. They said they can disable my account, but not delete it.
I find this very irritating. Does anybody know where I can register a complaint and/or enforce my right to data privacy?
Many thanks in advance,
kind regards,... See more Dear colleagues,
Years ago, I registered with a UK based translation agency. Since I consider this a mistake and don't want to work for them, nor receive mails etc., I requested to delete my account. Surprisingly, this request was denied. They said they can disable my account, but not delete it.
I find this very irritating. Does anybody know where I can register a complaint and/or enforce my right to data privacy?
Many thanks in advance,
kind regards,
Erik
[Bearbeitet am 2011-09-26 10:30 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:26
Member (2008)
Italian to English
I had the same problem with a UK agency (but I don't know if it was the same one). I asked them to delete my account and my personal details, and to confirm this back to me; but they never did.
So freitag's question is a pertinent one for me too.
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:26
Hebrew to English
| Data Protection Act 1998 | Sep 26, 2011 |
I think this Act is the most likely avenue to argue on.
It stipulates that an individual has:
•a right in certain circumstances to have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed
However you would need to demonstrate that the data they hold on you is in some way INACCURATE. But you said it was "YEARS AGO" , therefore you might be able to argue that it is inaccurate on the basis of being out of date.
But I'm no legal expert. So... See more I think this Act is the most likely avenue to argue on.
It stipulates that an individual has:
•a right in certain circumstances to have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed
However you would need to demonstrate that the data they hold on you is in some way INACCURATE. But you said it was "YEARS AGO" , therefore you might be able to argue that it is inaccurate on the basis of being out of date.
But I'm no legal expert. So couldn't possibly comment on the effectiveness of such a strategy, there may be simpler, alternative routes.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/principle_6.aspx ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 13:26
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| They may keep the info, AFAIK | Sep 26, 2011 |
efreitag wrote:
Years ago, I registered with a UK based translation agency. I requested to delete my account. Surprisingly, this request was denied. They said they can disable my account, but not delete it.
According to this page:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/information_standards/principle_5.aspx
...the party holding the information may decide themselves for how long they keep your information, and what information about you they want to keep, and (if I infer correctly) the onus is on you to prove (to a court or tribunal) that their reasons for keeping the information do not fly.
From that page:
If personal data has been recorded because of a relationship between you (the holder of the information) and the individual (the person whose information is held), you should consider whether you need to keep the information once the relationship ends.
Example: The individual may be a customer who no longer does business with you. When the relationship ends, you must decide what personal data to retain and what to delete.
You may not need to delete all personal data when the relationship ends. You may need to keep some information so that you can confirm that the relationship existed – and that it has ended – as well as some of its details.
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Is data protection the reason they gave for not removing your details? Whether or not you were given a copy when you signed up for the agency, in error or otherwise, they must have some terms and conditions on how they run their business, including how they handle personal data under the Data Protection Act (DPA). This is probably where you would want to look first. You need to ask this agency why they can't remove this information under any agreement you've made with them - assuming you have - ... See more Is data protection the reason they gave for not removing your details? Whether or not you were given a copy when you signed up for the agency, in error or otherwise, they must have some terms and conditions on how they run their business, including how they handle personal data under the Data Protection Act (DPA). This is probably where you would want to look first. You need to ask this agency why they can't remove this information under any agreement you've made with them - assuming you have - or otherwise under any relevant legislation.
In addition to what Ty has said, under the DPA, data should not be kept for longer than is necessary.
Good luck! Aisha ▲ Collapse
| | | | Erik Freitag
Germany
Local time: 13:26
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for all your input so far!
Samuel, thanks for that information. That's interesting indeed.
The reason they give for not being able to delete my account is simply this: "our site developer is working on a way to delete translators completely but because of the way the system was made, at the present time we cannot delete translators completely", which is a bit difficult to believe if I'm any judge.
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:26
French to English
+ ...
| Data is practically never deleted... | Sep 26, 2011 |
efreitag wrote:
Years ago, I registered with a UK based translation agency. Since I consider this a mistake and don't want to work for them, nor receive mails etc., I requested to delete my account. Surprisingly, this request was denied. They said they can disable my account, but not delete it.
Unfortunately, I think the law isn't terribly clear-cut on this. The Data Protection Act states that they should keep the data for as long as they deem it necessary. The law also appears to say that data should not be kept for longer than necessary, and any no longer necessary information should be deleted from archives/backups.
Now, can you imagine actually implementing this in practice? Your company has a plethora of backups on various media/servers, and suddenly some random person decides that a particular record should be permanently deleted from all of those backups. Can you imagine how much of a nightmare this would be?
Couple that with the fact that it's pretty much standard database practice to never actually delete any records, but rather simply flag them as "deleted", "archived" but keep them physically in the database. Indeed, some database systems actually do this under the hood when you "delete" data. And in addition, filing systems may well keep "deleted" information all over the disk without you really having any control over this.
So from a practical point of view, the company's position that they can "disable" but not physically delete your information is actually not unreasonable. If you think it's worth it, you could probably get into a fascinating, lengthy and costly legal battle with them over it, in which their representative would invent spurious reasons for the necessity of retaining the information, and your representative would invent arguments to counter those reasons.
You have a right to request what information they hold about you, and if the information is actually INACCURATE, have them change it.
Other than that, how long or short do you think life is and how much energy are you really prepared to spend on this...?
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:26
Member (2008)
Italian to English
My concern is about the security of their website and the possibility that it might be hacked. They have my credit card details, name and address on there.
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Richard Foulkes (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:26
German to English
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| Why not complain to the Information Comissioner? | Sep 26, 2011 |
Perhaps a mention of a complaint to the above would suffice to urge the agency to confirm removal of any unnecessary personal / banking details?
I think the ICO may also deal with unwanted e-mail, so you could kill two birds with one stone. I've heard of companies being barred from ISPs for sending unsolicited e-mails, which may be something the agency would like to avoid .
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:26
French to English
+ ...
| Credit card details... | Sep 26, 2011 |
Tom in London wrote:
My concern is about the security of their website and the possibility that it might be hacked. They have my credit card details, name and address on there.
Tom -- if you're *seriously* concerned because you have some inside information, then inform your credit card company and change your credit card.
If it's just a more vague concern, then unfortunately bear in mind that you credit card details will already be on all sorts of databases, any of which could be hacked at any moment: why privilege this particular one in your worries? That's why if somebody makes a fraudulent transaction on your card, the bank pays you the money back (even if that's eventually, after filling in irritating forms and having infuriating incomprehensible conversations with an Indian call centre).
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