Investigation

If complainant expected your web site “delete” their unique reputation, she requested you to definitely their particular membership and all sorts of their unique personal information perform be forever removed away from eHarmony’s servers.

In response to help you their unique demand, although not, eHarmony initial “closed” – otherwise deactivated – their own character, therefore it is unreachable to help you prospective matches.

The new complainant quickly informed eHarmony that this wasn’t exactly what she need. When this occurs, she discovered off eHarmony that it didn’t permanently remove members’ personal information.

All of our data found that the choice in order to “close” a merchant account was not conveniently available into eHarmony webpages. Nor was there a very clear reason out-of exactly what eHarmony created by the you to definitely label.

eHarmony stated that they “anonymizes” the information in the closed levels because it sooner or later did from inside the the complainant’s case, but failed to determine not as much as what situations it did so.

Study retention

PIPEDA requires that communities develop recommendations and procedures in terms of the fresh new maintenance off personal information, and maximum and you can minimum preservation periods. In legislation, eHarmony is permitted to retain personal data simply for as long because the necessary for the newest satisfaction of your purposes for that it is actually obtained.

eHarmony stated that why it deactivated levels and you can forever employed the details – rather than deleting the brand new membership additionally the advice included – is that forty per cent regarding users reactivate contained in this a two-season several months. When your data is chose, some one trying re-signup are not inconvenienced by the point-ingesting activity of completing a different survey.

Information

Inside our glance at, eHarmony is offer users just who intend to terminate the account an excellent clear options between account deactivation (temporary) and you may account removal (permanent).

Through the the data, i noted if 40 % out-of people commonly reactivate inactive accounts, upcoming a majority – 60 percent – do not. Ergo, they would not gain benefit from the indefinite preservation of their advice.

• Write, apply and posting profiles on a maintenance coverage by which individual guidance into the deactivated membership will be deleted from eHarmony’s host, erased otherwise anonymized shortly after a good length of time;
• Become a free account removal choice; and
• Show users to their representative membership users how account deletion is different from account deactivation, and work out each other possibilities obvious and easily accessible. A reason of one’s difference between account deletion and you may account deactivation ought to be composed to your general privacy.

Reaction

In its effect, eHarmony affirmed that it had taken, or was in the process of getting, actions to handle our questions, including:

• Creating a two-season preservation period private advice the web site collects off the fresh new profiles of the provider;
• Providing a clear and productive process to have pages so you’re able to request removal of their information that is personal; and you may
• Getting pages which have clear facts about the essential difference between deactivating an membership and you can removing an account and additionally here is how long eHarmony retains personal data.

eHarmony in addition to told our Office just how incase it anonymizes users’ investigation, and therefore, ultimately, forever and irreversibly pieces the individually idenfiable study off associate account. eHarmony verified your complainant’s account had been anonymized inside trends while the recommendations is made forever depersonalized.

Completion

Her er funnene

Since the eHarmony now offers profiles a very clear accessibility to entirely removing its levels till the stop away from two years, i concluded that a standard storage period of 24 months for inactive profile is acceptable.

Fundamentally, we had been happy with eHarmony’s responses. In addition to setting-up an appartment retention coverage, it offers generated the privacy control sharper so you’re able to profiles and you can improved approaches for making reference to confidentiality questions. Appropriately, the newest grievance is considered well-founded and fixed.