4 ms·

Just tested on o2 Germany, and no such header was inserted. It would probably be illegal here anyway.

wgx 15y ago
I have a hunch that it's probably a breach of data protection law in the UK too.
jarofgreen 15y ago
I would sodding hope it's illegal in the UK to! Altho as IANAL I can't think of which law exactly would cover it. Anyone know? I'm envious, you Germans have great privacy laws.
- alexchamberlain 15y ago
  Data protection act - Data must not be disclosed to other parties without the consent of the individual whom it is about, unless there is legislation or other overriding legitimate reason to share the information (for example, the prevention or detection of crime). It is an offence for Other Parties to obtain this personal data without authorisation.
  - jarofgreen 15y ago
    I suspect any legal case would hinge on whether your mobile phone number counted as personal data or not. Again, IANAL, but the Data Protection Act is not specific on what counts as personal data and instead leaves it up to case law and I think the data registrar(?) to clarify.
    - alexchamberlain 15y ago
      Information Commissioner, or at least his office. However, I think it is generally percieved as personal.
      - jarofgreen 15y ago
        On the other hand, in some contexts we hand our numbers out freely :-) I may be being pessimistic, but I suspect lawyers would have expensive "fun" with the details of this one.
- rmc 15y ago
  you Germans have great privacy laws. A lot of these laws are from EU Directives, which the UK would have implemented aswell. Brussles isn't all bad! :P
  - jarofgreen 15y ago
    You mean "should have implemented". It's left to member countries to make the laws to match the directives, and if the EU thinks the law doesn't match the directive it's a very long legal process to sort it out. The example in the UK I can think about is the detention in prison without trial for terrorism case. When the European court said "Ah, no." they scrapped it. And instead brought in house arrest without trial. Cue another long legal process. But yes, I agree the EU has some great bits :-) (Again, IANAL, and I worry I'm confusing the EU, European Commission and European court here ...)
  - chalst 15y ago
    Germany's privacy laws are pretty special and predate the EU. Privacy of post and telecommunication has been in the Federal constitution from the start (article 10; the constitution took effect in 1949 and the consisted of articles 1-18) and basically say that the privacy of communication over a distance is inviolable. The courts have interpreted this privacy as applying not only to the carrier, but also as a duty each end of the communication has to the other. I understand that if someone outside Germany were to call me (in Germany), I could not legally record the conversation until I had informed you of what I was about to do. Cf. (in fairly straightforward German) http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gg/art_10.html http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gg/art_10.html
  - simonbrown 15y ago
    Including the one which effectively bans analytics. http://blog.silktide.com/2011/05/cookie-law-makes-most-uk-websites-illegal-what-you-need-to-know/ http://blog.silktide.com/2011/05/cookie-law-makes-most-uk-we...

wgx 15y ago

I have a hunch that it's probably a breach of data protection law in the UK too.

I would sodding hope it's illegal in the UK to! Altho as IANAL I can't think of which law exactly would cover it. Anyone know? I'm envious, you Germans have great privacy laws.

alexchamberlain 15y ago
Data protection act - Data must not be disclosed to other parties without the consent of the individual whom it is about, unless there is legislation or other overriding legitimate reason to share the information (for example, the prevention or detection of crime). It is an offence for Other Parties to obtain this personal data without authorisation.
- jarofgreen 15y ago
  I suspect any legal case would hinge on whether your mobile phone number counted as personal data or not. Again, IANAL, but the Data Protection Act is not specific on what counts as personal data and instead leaves it up to case law and I think the data registrar(?) to clarify.
  - alexchamberlain 15y ago
    Information Commissioner, or at least his office. However, I think it is generally percieved as personal.
    - jarofgreen 15y ago
      On the other hand, in some contexts we hand our numbers out freely :-) I may be being pessimistic, but I suspect lawyers would have expensive "fun" with the details of this one.
rmc 15y ago
you Germans have great privacy laws. A lot of these laws are from EU Directives, which the UK would have implemented aswell. Brussles isn't all bad! :P
- jarofgreen 15y ago
  You mean "should have implemented". It's left to member countries to make the laws to match the directives, and if the EU thinks the law doesn't match the directive it's a very long legal process to sort it out. The example in the UK I can think about is the detention in prison without trial for terrorism case. When the European court said "Ah, no." they scrapped it. And instead brought in house arrest without trial. Cue another long legal process. But yes, I agree the EU has some great bits :-) (Again, IANAL, and I worry I'm confusing the EU, European Commission and European court here ...)
- chalst 15y ago
  Germany's privacy laws are pretty special and predate the EU. Privacy of post and telecommunication has been in the Federal constitution from the start (article 10; the constitution took effect in 1949 and the consisted of articles 1-18) and basically say that the privacy of communication over a distance is inviolable. The courts have interpreted this privacy as applying not only to the carrier, but also as a duty each end of the communication has to the other. I understand that if someone outside Germany were to call me (in Germany), I could not legally record the conversation until I had informed you of what I was about to do. Cf. (in fairly straightforward German) http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gg/art_10.html http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gg/art_10.html
- simonbrown 15y ago
  Including the one which effectively bans analytics. http://blog.silktide.com/2011/05/cookie-law-makes-most-uk-websites-illegal-what-you-need-to-know/ http://blog.silktide.com/2011/05/cookie-law-makes-most-uk-we...