Wednesday, July 30, 2008
When you surf on the Internet, and browse through a website, do you realise some of the methods by which your personal data are collected?
Well, there are several ways:
Personal data visibly collected on the website
If you are aware that you are providing personal details on a website, then the website is visibly or explicitly processing personal data. To that extent, you can control the type of personal data you wish to divulge.
Some ways in which personal data can be visibly collected include:
Forms
Most websites have more than one type of form, depending on the purpose of the form. Since forms are usually designed for a particular purpose, they are a good way of ensuring only relevant data is collected. At the same time, you can easily deduce and have a minimum form of control over the personal data you wish to provide - based on the fields you must fill in prior to submitting the form.
Email forms however, may be contentious. Using an email to send the form is not a good system as it gives rise to the possibility of collecting another email address which is not disclosed by the user for some reason. For example, the sample below marks Name, Surname, Street and number, Postcode and Municipality as mandatory whilst email is amongst the optional fields.
Hence, whilst testing this form, I opted to leave out my email address. However, upon clicking SUBMIT, the message as seen below appeared and my email address would nevertheless be collected by the website despite negating to disclose it initially.
Email
Whether it is a mail-to function (an email link on the website) which enables you to contact the organization by clicking on the email link, or it is an email address given on the website for contact without the link, you will divulge your personal data such as your email address and name in the email you send. Postal address, phone and fax, phone calls made, faxes sent, or letters written to the organization, will also lead to personal data being divulged by you in the course of obtaining more information about the organization.
To that extent, it does not differ from online forms on the website as the purpose is the same, and you should be informed that your personal data will/may be collected through these means as well.
Personal data invisibly collected on the website
This is where you are unaware of the collection - usually where a specific technology is used to perform the collection, unknown to you.
Technology per se is advantageous, but it can unfortunately, prove to be a menace as
well - sometimes by design, at other times by surreptitious use.
Cookies are a common method of invisible collection and are widely used on websites. Here, it is important that you are informed of the technology used to collect your personal data. Otherwise, being unaware, you are no longer in control of your personal data and such act is a breach of privacy.
Hopefully, this brief information on the subject will give you a hint on what to look out for before disclosing your personal data.
For an in-depth read on the subject, please consider the
Privacy Report 2006 on the compliance of Belgian non-profit organizations' and political parties' websites with regard to the processing of personal data in accordance with the Belgian Law on Privacy Protection in relation to the Processing of Personal Data, implementing European Union Directive 95/46/EC.