this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Privacy

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A few days ago I sent a GDPR request to some company to delete my personal data. They said to install their app and send a ticket from the app. The email was sent from the email address to which the account is registered. Is this even legal?

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[–] [email protected] 428 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (20 children)

No, it’s not at all legal for the company to do this. Reply and remind them they have one calendar month to comply from the date of your original request, otherwise you will make a complaint to which ever information regulator is correct for the juridiction they’re operating in.

I’m a lawyer specialising in Data Privacy, reply here if you need more help on this one.

Also feel free to name the company.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months ago

Fuck them and bless u lol

[–] [email protected] 24 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (7 children)

For now, I do not want to announce the name of this company publicly.

If they don't want to solve it amicably, then I will do so.

[–] [email protected] 168 points 11 months ago (4 children)

They already said they don't want to.

They asked you to install the app on purpose, in hopes that you'll decide it's too much hassle and decide not to delete the account.

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[–] [email protected] 77 points 11 months ago

This is a bad decision, IMO. They may fix it for you, but then you've lost the opportunity to assist everyone who comes after you.

You posted asking the public for help. Please return the favor and report them, as you are legally supposed to do.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Why not? That's so weird...

[–] [email protected] 72 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Think of the poor corporation! If they get punished for their illegal buisness practices, it'll hurt the economy and people will be less inclined to start a small buisness. Didn't you study piss down economics?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

"WHAT ABOUT THE TRUE VICTIMS HERE! WHY DOESN'T ANYONE CARE ABOUT THOSE HARDWORKING, SALT-OF-THE-EARTH SHAREHOLDERS! ARE YOU PEOPLE FUCKING COMMUNISTS?!"

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Must be something that makes you look bad lol

Otherwise you'd just say it. You owe them nothing and they've broken the fuckin law and you're protecting them? What do they have on you?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Or maybe they just want to disclose as little of their personal information, including services relied on, on an open platform like this. Idk if that's the case, but playing devil's advocate here

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I will never understand why people complain online then do this. Why are you being such a pushover. What does amicably even mean to you?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

Feetfinders.com? Heh

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

That reminds me, I might have to put in a formal complaint for a somewhat similar matter.

Bought concert cards years ago, and was never able to unsubsribe from the newsletter. I sent requests to every mail address I could find, and never even got a response. Still got newsletters every now and then though.

They also just make it unnecessarily hard to contact them, so at this point I'm not sure my messages even reached them, which hopefully is what explains their failure to comply.

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[–] [email protected] 363 points 11 months ago

Name and shame the company

[–] [email protected] 314 points 11 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 106 points 11 months ago (7 children)

Man, Elon really does ruin everything. Can't even use X as a variable anymore without a disclaimer.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago (2 children)

It's causing hell of problems to mathematicians worldwide.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

Suddenly, every math formula ever written is subject to copyright and royalties.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago

Fuck that, I refuse to give him the letter. He can pry it from my cold dead hands as he chokes on my liver!

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 11 months ago (3 children)

It is an ex-social-platform. It is now a pile of garbage.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago (2 children)

This is why I always call it twitter. X is a variable

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[–] [email protected] 188 points 11 months ago

No. They are obligated to obey the law as written. They don’t get to create conditions.

[–] [email protected] 140 points 11 months ago

GDPR clearly states you can contact any part of the organisation with your request. You can make your request verbally or in writing and they must acknowledge it. They can't refuse and make you use their app.

For fun send them a Subject Access Request and if they don't acknowledge it, report them to the ICO (if you're in the UK)

[–] [email protected] 74 points 11 months ago

Name & shame.

[–] [email protected] 69 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Simply ask for the official company name, registration number and country as well as the prereree means of communication that they would like your local data authorities to contact them on.

Also make a 1 star review, stating that you are in talks with your local gdpr authorities about their way of handling privacy.

This worked for me last time a company asked me to download an app to delete my account

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 67 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I had this before, though not through a direct communication. Someone had gotten my email credentials somehow and installed a company's app and made an account. When I went through the support pages on the company's site to find out how to delete the account the only listed way was through the app itself.

They were accommodating and helpful when I emailed the company about it though. I just told them that I can't agree to the privacy policy and thus cannot install the app but still need the account to be deleted. They did it.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 11 months ago

It is absolutely not

[–] [email protected] 24 points 11 months ago (3 children)

They were very friendly imo. No need to speak legalese or to be rude.

Just tell them that you can't or don't want to install the app.

If they don't help you, then you proceed to remind them that you are not required to install anything for them to comply with GDPR.

[–] [email protected] 76 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Being friendly doesn't negate the fact that they are out of compliance with the law. Even sending a second email to insist they delete your data is an undue burden.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You're right, but sometimes a bit of undue courtesy repays in dividends. Not every minor infraction is nefarious and not every minor infraction deserves reporting. A simple courteous reminder of their obligations may save both parties some undue hassle.

I can imagine this company doing this to ensure only authenticated users can have their data removed. There are other ways...but this was probably what they considered reasonable and painless for all, admittedly they (wrongly) didn't consider the audience of this community in that decision.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago (4 children)

A simple courteous reminder of their obligations may save both parties some undue hassle.

Actually, the customer is already getting undue hassle, while the company is just breaking the law. Why can't we just expect better?

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 11 months ago

It's the bare minimum of friendliness expected in customer care. Most likely a macro which is normal with these kind of requests.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Time to speak corporate to them. Write out a GDPR removal demand letter. And mail it to them certified or whatever corporate mail does in your local jurisdiction.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I had a simmilar situation with Nicehash (crypto shit company), but I had 2fa enabled and just wanted to unsubscribe from useless newsletters. They asked for a photo of me holding a paper with my personal information. Still didnt solve that, but some comments here might help, following

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[–] possiblylinux127 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I like how they end it with "greetings"

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

eBay does this too. They told me they can't access my data to delete it, that I have to log in with their website or app and send information to just get my data, let alone have it deleted.

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