• On the occasion of Data Privacy Day, the European Day for the Protection of Personal Data, this Saturday January 28, UFC-Que Choisir is launching a mobilization campaign entitled #JeNeSuisPasUneData.

  • Via a free tool, each Internet user can find out what personal data is collected by the platforms, but also how to exercise their rights.

    The goal: regain control of your data.

  • “In addition to what they collect, the platforms infer a lot about you.

    Internet users do not always measure the extent and especially the exploitation that is made of it, ”warns Raphaël Bartlomé, head of the legal department at UFC-Que Choisir.

A form to fill out, cookies to accept, preference settings to configure… Every time you sign up, it's the same story.

But do we really know what personal data is available to platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Uber or Tinder.

On the occasion of Data Privacy Day, the European Day for the protection of personal data, this Saturday, January 28, the UFC-Que Choisir launched, this Thursday, a mobilization campaign entitled #JeNeSuisPasUneData.

The goal ?

Allow Internet users to know the extent of the personal data collected by these platforms and explain to them how to request their erasure or rectification.

The process is quite simple.

Via a free tool, made available by the association, the user chooses one of the nine platforms that interests him: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google, Uber, Tinder, TikTok or even Netflix.

The tool refers to the platform concerned to download a copy of our personal data, which it has often held for several years.

Once this file has been obtained – which can take from a few minutes to a few days depending on the platform – the UFC-Que Choisir tool delivers a detailed analysis.

“A silent vacuum cleaner”

“We propose to show the invisible.

Personal data is a kind of silent vacuum cleaner that runs constantly, ”summarizes Raphaël Bartlomé, head of the legal department at UFC-Que Choisir.

Because these platforms actually know much more than you think you are telling them.

Among the personal data that we "give" to these platforms, there is obviously our identity and our contact details, but that's not all, explains the specialist: "In addition to what they collect, the platforms deduce lots of things about you.

Internet users do not always measure the extent and especially the exploitation that is made of it”.

Based on your clicks, your interactions or your searches, the platforms can guess what your lifestyle, consumption and leisure habits are, your family situation,

your political orientation or your professional situation.

In other words, they draw up a true composite portrait of you.

Take the case of the professional social network, LinkedIn.

If the platform logically knows the name of your company and the position you hold, it can also guess your ambitions: "LinkedIn can deduce if you are unemployed, looking for a job, if you want to go to stranger, if you like your job.

This is called inferred data,” continues the specialist.

By analyzing your journeys, their frequencies or your speed, Google "can know where you live, the places you frequent, the location of your business, whether you walk, bike or scooter", adds- he.

And it's the same for Facebook.

The social network can know, via your connections on your various devices, your location,

the brand and model of your phone or computer, the wifi terminal you use or even your software.

“Especially since we think that by closing the applications, the tracking stops, but this is false”, warns the specialist.

Data that belongs to you

Especially since with the expansion of cybercrime, your data may be of interest to malicious people.

"But the goal is not to scare, but to raise awareness and explain how we can react," he continues.

If the entry into force of the European regulation on the protection of personal data (GDPR) in 2018 has made it possible to strengthen the rights of consumers, we must be honest two minutes, almost no human being on this planet reads the conditions of use. or this famous RGPD when it registers on a platform.

Even for a professional, it's "boring and incomprehensible", admits Raphaël Bartlomé.

So when it comes to requesting the erasure or rectification of our personal data, we rarely persevere.

"Just because this data is collected doesn't mean it no longer belongs to you."

You deleted a photo from your social networks, it still appears in Google when you type your name and you think nothing is wrong

"It's not a fatality"

And for that, you have to go to the "exercise your rights" tab of the tool set up by UFC-Que Choisir, starting by informing the organization to contact.

And the choice is wide, it can be Uber, Netflix France SAS, Google France, Amazon France Logistique SAS or Apple Europe Inc.

Several possibilities are then available to you: you can request a copy of your personal data, oppose their use, request their deletion, correct information or demand that you no longer appear in the results of a search engine, such as Google. .

The tool then automatically generates a request that only remains to be sent.

Depending on the platforms, the realization can take from several days to several months.

“All the data they keep on you is useless.

But this is not inevitable.

It's possible to be forgotten and it's not complicated, ”says Raphaël Bartlomé.

And to finance this campaign, the UFC-Que Choisir has not only appealed for donations: "The funds also come from the lawsuits we won against Google, Uber, Facebook for the collection and abusive exploitation of personal data of users”, rejoices the specialist.

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