Protecting my identity in E-Commerce

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Protecting my identity in E-Commerce

Published on : January 23, 2024

eBay provides for an interesting privacy protection policy. It allows for dissemination of information to recognized requests from Police and other law enforcement officials.[1] However this is not limited to eBay only. Even the online retail giant Amazon India provides a similar dissemination of information exception.[2] It can always be implied that such a policy is in greater good of society at large. It however takes a pledge to not allow outsiders to gain access of the material information kept in their database however it also shifts the burden to other buyers and sellers who are brought in touch due to transactions between the same.

“In addition, under no circumstances, except as defined in this Section, can you disclose personally identifiable information about another user to any third party without our consent and the consent of such other user after adequate disclosure. eBay and our users do not tolerate spam. Therefore, without limiting the foregoing, you are not licensed to add a eBay user-even a user who has purchased an item from you-to your mail list (email or physical mail) without their express consent after adequate disclosure.”[3]

It understands the apprehensions of privacy and has tried to address it to the best of its abilities. Also it is important to note that eBay itself is not a retailer but only a facilitator. It doesn’t sell the products itself. This however doesn’t affect the duty on behalf of eBay to protect the personal information of the consumers as all the private information is available only with eBay and not the individual sellers. Flipkart, the Indian E-retail giant, on the other hand which later turned into a facilitator like eBay, has similar provisions and also plugged a possible loophole. Its privacy policy also provides for the same identity to be shared with a merged entity however the merged entity is also required to protect such information received via the merger.[4] In addition to a self-regulation scheme of providing security of information,[5] Flipkart also adheres to provide protection as envisaged under the Information Technology Act, 2000.[6]

[1] eBay Privacy Policy effective 1st April 2010, available at http://pages.ebay.in/help/policies/privacy-policy.html (“in response to a verified request by law enforcement or other government officials relating to a criminal investigation or alleged illegal activity, we can (and you authorize us to) disclose your name, city, state, telephone number, email address, UserID history, fraud complaints, and bidding and listing history without a subpoena. Without limiting the above, in an effort to respect your privacy and our ability to keep the community free from bad actors, we will not otherwise disclose your personal information to law enforcement or other government officials without a subpoena, court order or substantially similar legal procedure, except when we believe in good faith that the disclosure of information is necessary to prevent imminent physical harm or financial loss; or report suspected illegal activity”)

[2] Amazon.in Privacy Notice, available at http://www.amazon.in/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_v4_sib?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200545460 (“We may be required to share the aforesaid information with government authorities and agencies for the purposes of verification of identity or for prevention, detection, investigation including cyber incidents, prosecution and punishment of offences. You agree and consent for Amazon.in to disclose your information, if so required under the applicable law”)

[3] Ibid.

[4] Privacy Policy, http://www.flipkart.com/s/privacypolicy(“We and our affiliates will share / sell some or all of your personal information with another business entity should we (or our assets) plan to merge with, or be acquired by that business entity, or re-organization, amalgamation, restructuring of business. Should such a transaction occur that other business entity (or the new combined entity) will be required to follow this privacy policy with respect to your personal information.”)

[5] Privacy Policy, http://www.flipkart.com/s/privacypolicy (“Our Website has stringent security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. Whenever you change or access your account information, we offer the use of a secure server. Once your information is in our possession we adhere to strict security guidelines, protecting it against unauthorized access.”)

[6] Ibid.