topic Is this against the GDPR? in Plusnet Feedback

Is this against the GDPR?

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 10:07:47 GMT

I will gladly be corrected on the assumption that I am in fact wrong, so I thought I’d seek clarification here. On landing on the plus.net site I see this:

You will notice that the check box is selected already and was the default value provided, however according to the GDPR:

Opt in vs opt out

The GDPR lists specific requirements for lawful consent requests, but must also be given with a clear affirmative action. In other words, individuals need a mechanism that requires a deliberate action to opt in, as opposed to pre-ticked boxes.

Although the GDPR doesn’t specifically ban opt-out consent, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says that opt-out options “are essentially the same as pre-ticked boxes, which are banned”.

So is my assumption correct? i.e the tick box shown in the image above should not be selected by default.

Re: Is this against the GDPR?

newagetraveller — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 10:22:19 GMT

Thanks for that Mook. I wan't aware of that section of the GDPR.

I've always been of the opinion that "opt out" must be the default choice and that to "opt in" requires some kind of action to execute.

Although, not in this instance, the tick or untick statement, has been intended to confuse purposely, with some organisations.

Re: Is this against the GDPR?

Alex — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 10:37:38 GMT

Yes I agree with you both that it is not right and should be changed to not be checked by default.

Though IMNAL (I am not a lawyer) and all that.

Re: Is this against the GDPR?

Baldrick1 — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 12:35:07 GMT

@newagetraveller wrote:

Although, not in this instance, the tick or untick statement, has been intended to confuse purposely, with some organisations.

You mean like the option to turn off spy cookies which you get every time you log into this forum? It's far from clear that these are activated by default. You need to jump through this hoop every time that you log in if you have your browser set to delete cookies on exit. Presumably this is a deliberate ploy to catch out punters, otherwise the option would be stored with your log in details.

Re: Is this against the GDPR?

Jonpe — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 14:41:58 GMT

There is a saying, "Who pays the piper calls the tune." These days it should be, "Who gives the most to (insert party in power) calls the tune." Big business can afford to lobby extensively in order to water down, or even prevent the enactment of, legislation they don't like.

Re: Is this against the GDPR?

Baldrick1 — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 17:29:38 GMT

And the relevance to this topic is?

Re: Is this against the GDPR?

ScottStorey — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 20:24:11 GMT

100% against GDPR and has definitely been raised before.

One for the ICO.