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Two Swedish online bookstores, CD-on and Bonnier-owned Adlibris, have been reported to the Swedish Data Inspection Board for violating the Personal Data Act.
The report has been made by independent organisation Sweden's Consumers, which scrutinized 12 internet companies. Sites for Ikea, Booking.com and Ticnet were also amongst those under criticism. At these five websites, customers are forced to give away too much data, the body has claimed. For instance, at CD-on users have to reveal their social security number, and in order to create an account with Adlibris, users must reveal an address, e-mail, phone number and their marital status.
Other complaints concern agreement to terms and conditions that often are well-hidden in extensive legal documents. “We know that extremely few customers read all these long documents before they accept the terms. In some cases, accepting the terms is a default setting. That does not fulfil the legal requirements ‘individual’ and ‘unequivocal’”, said Maria Wiezell, expert in consumer rights at Sweden's Consumers.
The Personal Data Act came into force in 1998, regulating how personal information is collected and treated. For instance, according to the law the customer’s information is supposed to be perpetually erased, and only used for “normal client administration”.
But at the reported websites, information can be stored for up to five years, even when customers try to get it erased. It can also be extensively passed on. CD-on informs their customers that the information will be used by third-party companies as well. As a customer of Adlibris, you give the company permission to collect data about you from all Bonnier subsidiaries or other companies, in order to create advanced client profiles.
According to Wiezell, this is something to be careful with, especially when the companies work internationally. “In the EU we have fairly similar regulations. But what happens if the information is spread to countries outside of the European Economic Area? We could completely lose control over this information”.
The report has been registered at the Data Inspection Board, and the online companies might receive supervision at the end of the summer.