The Complaint
When the Complainant made online registration for membership of a travel agency, in addition to identification and contact information, the Complainant was required to provide information on occupation, education level, marital status, personal and family monthly income, and number of family members (collectively, "the Data"); otherwise, the registration process could not be completed. In this regard, the Complainant carefully studied the website's Personal Information Collection Statement ("PICS"), but the travel agency's purpose of collecting the Data was not stated.
In response to the PCPD's enquiry, the travel agency explained that the collection of the Data was for statistical purposes.
Outcome
The Commissioner was of the view that registrants for membership of the travel agency had the right to decide whether to provide the data related to the statistical purposes of the travel agency. Hence, non-provision of the Data should not affect the registration for membership of the Complainant. Moreover, it was the duty of the travel agency to inform the registrants about the purpose of collecting the Data. The travel agency accepted the Commissioner's recommendations and added the purpose of collecting the Data in its PICS, and amended the web page and the procedure for membership registration, thus clarifying that the registrants were free to decide whether to provide the Data or not.
uploaded on web in July 2013