A complaint against online auction site eBay is being
investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office over
suspicions it is in breach of the Data Protection Act. The claims
are made by pressure group Privacy International.
Privacy International has claimed that the difficulty in closing
accounts with eBay puts the company in breach of the Act. It
concedes that deleting an account is possible, but very difficult.
Under the terms of the Data Protection Act, companies must allow
people to delete or request that their personal information be
deleted.
"We believe that these account deletion and disclosure
arrangements – or their absence – breach key elements of the Data
Protection Act," said a Privacy International statement. "No
customer could reasonably be expected to invest the considerable
time and effort required to investigate these sites, nor in our
view should any responsible company create such obstacles. In our
view it is in these companies financial interest to hide the
account deletion function, and thus they have acted in an entirely
self-serving manner that denies millions of customers an important
right."
The ICO is investigating the group's claims. "We have received a
complaint from Privacy International which we are now looking
into," said an ICO statement. "The Information Commissioner's
Office takes breaches of people's privacy very seriously and we are
contacting eBay about this.”
EBay issued a statement saying that it "takes the safety and
privacy of its users very seriously," and that its members were
free to delete their accounts.
The ICO will also investigate Privacy International's claim that
the company's sharing of bank, address, date of birth and telephone
details with up to 10,000 organisations is, in Privacy
International's words, "disproportionate and possibly
insecure".
EBay shares the information with the members of its VeRO
programme, a scheme that EBay says is designed to aid the
investigation of fraud or other unlawful activity on the site.
"The VeRO Programme has membership of around 10,000
organisations and individuals," said a Privacy International
statement. "We believe this blanket provision in EBay’s terms and
conditions is disproportionate and possibly insecure, and we have
also asked the Information Commissioner to investigate the nature
of this relationship and the scale of disclosures of personal
information to the programme’s members."
EBay could ultimately be fined if the ICO finds it in breach of
the Act, but only if it disobeys the ICO. "The ICO can ask for more
information about how they process their data with an Information
Notice," said Daradjeet Jagpal, a specialist in data protection law
at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM.
"If they don't comply with the Information Notice they can issue
an Enforcement Notice asking them to do certain things. If they
don't comply with that then that is a crime," said Jagpal. "There
are very few crimes under the Data Protection Act, but that is
one." It carries a fine of up to £5,000, he said.
Individuals can also take action. "If someone can prove that
they have suffered damage, or damage and distress, then they can
bring a claim against eBay and seek compensation," said Jagpal.
Disclaimer: We hope you find OUT-LAW’s content useful. It’s prepared by the lawyers at Pinsent Masons. Please remember, though, that it’s intended as general information only. It’s not legal advice. If that’s what you’re seeking, please
contact us. See also: our
full disclaimer
