Improved online privacy awareness

The results of a global evaluation show improvements in the city’s awareness of privacy protection, in particular with regard to online forums, the Office for Personal Data Protection (GPDP) has revealed.
The evaluation was made during the fifth edition of a joint enforcement action – Privacy Sweep – with 24 other related institutions around the world participating. The GPDP re-examined seven online forums previously examined in the third edition of the evaluation. The latest results revealed that the majority of the examined forums did not request the collection of too much personal information to attract subscribers, and some of the examined forums provide clear and detailed privacy policies to users.
No conditions were found in which forum operators would allow data to be managed automatically by systems that might result in negative impact upon registered users, according to the Office.
However, the GPDP flagged areas that could be improved; namely, a means for users to permanently delete user accounts in order to prevent history or personal data being permanently stored or viewed. The GPDP added that forums should also provide adequate information to users in understanding how forums handle personal data.
The joint enforcement action is initiated by the Global Privacy Enforcement Network, with 60 related institutions joining the group.
The fifth edition of Privacy Sweep examined 455 websites and mobile applications by the 24 privacy-protection related institutions