Out-Law News 1 min. read
03 May 2001, 12:00 am
The site, ageofconsent.org.uk, canvasses votes from visitors on whether or not they support Baroness Young’s argument. To vote, users were asked to submit their name, postcode, age range, sex, sexual orientation and whether or not they are a UK citizen. Most of the data is personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998, which means that the person collecting the data (Baroness Young) must be registered as a data controller and comply with the Act’s provisions on collection, use and disposal of the data. The question about sexual orientation constitutes sensitive personal data under the Act, which carries more stringent conditions of use.
The web site had no data protection notice in place, hence the Commissioner’s concern. Over 50,000 votes have already been cast. In fact, no action was taken by the Commissioner other than an exchange of letters, warning the site that a suitable notice was required. This was put in place by the site. According to the Commissioner’s office today, there are now only “a couple of minor concerns outstanding,” following this move. These concerns were said to be confidential.
However, as OUT-LAW’s Linda Molloy observes,
“The site only contains a link to a privacy notice from its navigation menu and users are not told to read the notice before entering their details. This means, users can easily submit their details without having been shown the notice. To comply with best practice, before taking personal information, a data protection notice should be displayed prominently, requiring the user to click his or her acceptance of its terms. At the least, there should be a message to users asking them to visit the notice before completing their details.”