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Ben Curthoys

@neil But I have a legitimate interest in making money out of your data in ways you would never consent to!

8 comments
Ben Curthoys

@neil "Legitimate" in this context being used as a synonym for "profitable", of course.

Fragarach

@bencurthoys
@neil
I really don't understand that "legitimate interest" malarkey either.
If I haven't signed up for a contract, and I choose to refuse all but essential cookies, then any interest a company has in me is most assuredly not in my interests.
I looked up "legitimate interest" on the ICO website, and they seem to think it's OK, blissfully unaware that anything that can be abused, will be abused.
And, as my Grandad pointed out, Sorry doesn't get the cows milked.

Ben Curthoys

@Fragarach @neil "Legitimate Interest" isn't an intrinsically bad idea.

Remember first that the legislation is around "processing", not "sending you fucking marketing email specifically".

Suppose I run a business and you buy something from it. Later that year, I run an analysis on my database showing where my sales come from broken down by postcode, so that I know where to buy street display adverts.

Ben Curthoys

@Fragarach @neil Is your postcode your data? Yes.
Am I processing it? Yes, to find out where my customers are.
Have you consented specifically to that? No.
Is it necessary for the performance of the contact? No.
Do I have a legal obligation to do this analysis, am saving someone's life, or performing a public task? No.

Ben Curthoys

@Fragarach @neil Is this kind of data processing and analysis what the "legitimate interest" reason is for, rather using it as an excuse to send you marketing emails you don't want or to display you adverts on the internet for things you already bought? Yes.

It would be very hard to argue that I don't have a right to work out where my customers are from and to use that information to make decisions; I have a legitimate interest in it.

Ben Curthoys

@Fragarach @neil What the ICO needs to do it put on its big boy trousers and start handing out the biggest fines it is allowed - which are big - £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover, whichever is larger - until people stop abusing "Legitimate Interest" reason by processing data in ways people would not reasonably expect and would object to if they knew about.

Fragarach

@bencurthoys @neil
It's not hard at all. You have no right, none whatsoever. You have a right to work out where your customers are based, but you don't get to STEAL information from me in the pursuit of that.
Legitimate interest, my hairy fat arse. Fuck off.

Fragarach

@bencurthoys
@neil
As an analogy:
A supermarket where I used to shop asked for people's postcode at the checkout. The majority of people refused to supply it. Because it was, quite simply, None Of Their Fucking Business.
The interests of a company are totally and unequivocally subservient to the right to privacy of their customers.

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