John Smith said in two different postings:
>
>Further, you did not answer, or comment on, my second (and I consider more
>serious) comment that ingenta collects personal information BEFORE it
>really needs it thus invading the privacy of users to no purpose should
>they subsequently choose not to the buy the article. This is a flagrant
>disregarding of one of the basic rules of library and information work
>where one does not ask for a user for indentification unless it is
>necessary to deliver the required service.
ere are other faults with this service. For example it doesn't report
>>
>> A related matter: If you need to pay for an article the system collects
>> your details BEFORE it tells you how much you need to pay to get an
>> article. THIS IS CONTRARY TO ALL THE BASIC RULES OF PRIVICY that I, as a
>> Librarian, believe in. Should you choose to pay for an article then it is
>> obviously a requirement to provide information for payment and delivery
>> BUT NOT BEFORE.
Ingenta will HAVE to change this approach, if it is as John describes, as
it is contrary to the Data Protection Act. Specifically, it breaches the
second and third Principles, which state that personal information shall
only be collected for specified purposes and the data collected shall not
be excessive in relation to the purposes. Collecting personal information
without knowing for sure you will need to use it, which appears to be the
case here, is a clear breach of these Principles and there are many
precedents for companies being fined under the Act for doing that sort of
thing.
I would now like to ask the Ingenta representative the following questions:
Is the company registered/notified under the Data Protection Act? What
purpose or purposes has Ingenta notified the Information Commissioner it
collects and processes personal information for? How does it justify
collecting personal information BEFORE a client has decided if (s)he wishes
to make a purchase?
It is worth noting that a company found in breach of the Principles can be
prosecuted and fined and/or be forced to amend its procedures.
Professor Charles Oppenheim
Dept of Information Science
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leics LE11 3TU
Tel 01509-223065
Fax 01509-223053
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