On the occasion of World Data Protection Day, UFC-Que Choisir is launching the #JeNeSuisPasUneData campaign. And offers a tool to measure the extent of information collected by tech giants… and delete it!
Google, Amazon, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok… All the platforms used on a daily basis voraciously seize tons of personal data collected from their users and which represent real gold mines. If the European GDPR tries somehow to protect Internet users from abuses in this area and the CNIL often imposes fines on companies that do not respect it, both however quickly reach their limits. Ahead of European Data Protection Day – January 28 –, a study revealed that the vast majority of French people are aware of the challenges that the protection of personal data represents, and 92% of them say they are aware of and concerned about these issues.
However, only a minority actually act to protect themselves, while 86% of respondents want more support and information on methods of protecting privacy. No sooner said than done ! UFC-Que Choisir has just started a new campaign called #JeNeSuisPasUneData. This aims to inform Internet users of the use of their personal data by large companies and to facilitate their steps to exercise their rights.
Personal data: tools to regain control
For this major campaign, UFC-Que Choisir has put the website online jenesuispasunedata.fron which the association provides advice and recommendations to users to help them protect their data and ensure their own security on the Web. “While consumers are aware of the collection of data to which they are subject in their daily lives, they are far from measuring the extent of it and especially the use that is made of it. It is essential that consumers realize the importance of the data they leave on the Internet and the consequences this may have on their lives, in a context, moreover, of growing cybercrime”says UFC-Que Choisir in a communicated.
The consumer protection association goes even further with the tool Respect my dates, which allows you to view the data collected about it by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Uber, Google, Tinder, TikTok or even Netflix. Even better, it allows you to erase them and limit their use! “The web giants have made data out of us, but that’s not a fatality”, declares Alain Bazot, president of the UFC-Que Choisir. “Today, it’s time to reverse the trend, to react by regaining control of our personal data. We have rights, let’s exercise them.”
Respect my data: know what data the platforms have collected on me
Many Internet users are unaware of this, but all platforms allow access to all the data collected about them. The UFC-Que Choisir makes it possible to visualize them much more clearly and to understand them. Here is the procedure to follow:
► Go to Rrespect my dates.
► Click on the white button Recover my data.
► Click on platform icon that interests you.
► The site will tell you in detail the procedure to follow on the platform the procedure to follow to recover your personal data. This obviously varies for each company. Attention, it takes more or less time (sometimes several)!
► Once your data has been recovered, click on Analyze your data.
► Select again the platform that interests you.
► Drop the file in the space indicated, then click on the button Explore your data.
The UFC-Que Choisir site then displays various graphs in order to clearly visualize the data that the platform holds on you as well as the use they make of it, such as views, “likes”, advertisements sent , the number of hours spent on it, the last messages, connection habits, the route map, total expenses, places visited, GPS coordinates… Terrifying!
UFC-Que Choisir: how to delete personal data?
The UFC-Que Choisir tool offers a simplified method for asserting your rights with regard to the protection of your privacy. Indeed, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows users to ask any company to provide and delete the data collected. Of course, in reality, everything is done to put a spoke in their wheels. Fortunately, “Respect my data” offers to do so via a simple form:
► Go back to Rrespect my dates.
► Click on the black button Exercise your rights.
► You must complete a form. Select the Company Name to which you wish to make the request via the drop-down menu. The tool will automatically enter the DPO’s email address.
► In Data Access Requestselect the type of request you want to do from the drop-down menu.
► Click on the black button Next 1/3.
► Enter your surname, first name and identifier at society. It can also be a contract number, a telephone number, a nickname or an email address. If you really don’t have one, check I don’t have a username.
► Click on the black button Next 2/3.
► The UFC-Que Choisir site generates a standard e-mail to send a message to the company concerned. enter your mail address in the dedicated field.
► Check the first box.
► Click the button I send the email. You just have to repeat the operation for the other platforms.