Kolvin Stone is interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live about web privacy issues
Kolvin Stone was interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live discussing data protection issues and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) request for an overhaul of privacy and marketing small print.
The ICO's research reveals that half of consumers don’t understand what they’re signing up to when they fill in online and paper forms. The survey uncovers widespread cynicism amongst consumers, with almost half of those questioned believing small print to be purposely designed to be as woolly as possible (47%) and 42 per cent seeing it simply as a vehicle for companies to make money by selling on customers’ details.
The ICO is concerned that too many companies baffle customers with lengthy and unnecessary legalese and wants organisations to make their privacy notices much clearer. The ICO has launched a national consultation on a new Code of Practice designed to help organisations provide more user-friendly privacy notices.
Kolvin commented that "more user friendly privacy policies are a welcome development but individuals need to take greater responsibility for the information that they give to websites. Many individuals are happy to disclose vast amounts of information about themselves, on sites such as social networks, without even taking the time to understand how that site may use his or her data. Whilst businesses should make a special effort to draw an individual's attention to uses of their data that they might not reasonably expect, individuals also need to make more effort to protect their data and ultimately their privacy."