VKontakte through the court protects the personal data of its users
The social network VKontakte sued the company Double Data and the National Bureau of Credit Histories, according to Kommersant. VKontakte accuses these organizations of illegal collection and commercial use of users' personal data: the creditworthiness of their owners was estimated based on the information of open profiles. In the future, information was sold to banks.
The defendants regard the suit as a manifestation of competition and declare that VKontakte simply wants to capitalize on this information. The trial can become a precedent in Russian practice and bury services whose work is based on processing Big Data.
The press service of the Mail.Ru Group, which owns Vkontakte, clarified that Double Data’s actions are illegal, if only because, during the collection of information, they create multiple unsubstantiated requests to the social network “which can ultimately negatively affect the response speed for ordinary users, as well as copying, processing and selling content, including audio, video, photos. "
The practice of collecting personal data has become the norm around the world. There are entire projects that collect and process information about individuals based on their profiles on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other social networks. On the basis of the data obtained, a profile of a potential client is formed for various institutions, primarily banks.
In this case, the services involved in processing Big Data of this plan, there are claims around the world. Including in the form of lawsuits about the unlawful collection and use of user information. Fighting this phenomenon and social networks. So, Facebook in November 2016 banned the insurance company Admiral Insurance from the UK to use the analysis of car owners based on their behavior, calling it “too intrusive”.
While the largest Russian-speaking social network for one reason or another defends the integrity of personal data of users, some of them are ready to trade information about themselves. Thus, according to a survey conducted by research company GfK, 29% of respondents from Russia are ready to provide access to their personal data in exchange for discounts, privileges or personalized service.
“During the online survey, respondents were asked to indicate how much they agree or disagree with the statement“ I am ready to share my personal data (health, financial situation, driver’s history, electricity use, etc.) in exchange for advantages or benefits ” ", - the site says .