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E.U. Regulator Says IP Addresses Are Personal Data

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-not-share dept.

NewsCloud writes "Germany's data-protection commissioner, Peter Scharr told a European Parliament hearing on online data protection that when someone is identified by an IP, or Internet protocol, address, 'then it has to be regarded as personal data.' Scharr acknowledged that IP addresses for a computer may not always be personal or linked to an individual. If the E.U. rules that IP addresses are personal, then it could regulate the way search engines record this data. According to the article, Google does an incomplete job of anonymizing this data while Microsoft does not record IP addresses for anonymous search."

5 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. And they plan to implement this how?! by CaptainPatent · · Score: 5, Informative

    The only way to check and see if your IP is being kept is by changing the protocol entirely or by checking the company's servers. I'm guessing that not too many companies would appreciate people routinely rooting around, and if something to check if an IP is stored were to be implemented, the protocol would have to be vastly overhauled and it could slow down the internet 80% or more because of the extra time needed to "check."

    The bottom line is this is much like the ruling in the US that companies had to keep a record of working memory (which is entirely impossible,) This seems to be more legislators talking about something they know very little about.

    Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate the fact that it would make it harder for the ad industry to hunt you down which is always appreciated, I just don't think any reasonable implementation will work.

    --
    Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
    1. Re:And they plan to implement this how?! by dleigh · · Score: 3, Informative

      TFA (and some slashdot readers) seem to be assuming that he is calling for a ban on logging IPs. TFA is pretty thin on what was actually said at the meeting, just taking the assumption and asking a few search company spokespeople for their opinion on that assumption. The comissioner doesn't seem to be claiming anywhere that IP addresses should not be stored, or that regulators should check to see if they are not stored, or that any "implementation" of anything is or should be required. The only statement from him seems to boil down to "something which identifies a person should be considered personal data".

  2. Re:So... by alx5000 · · Score: 5, Informative

    There's no European equivalent to RIAA... maybe there's such an organization on a country level, but I can assure you that sharing is completely legal in Spain, since fair use covers any kind of private copy, no matter whether you own the original or not (and yes, P2P falls into that category).

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    My 0.02 cents
  3. Re:Just Addresses by Beriaru · · Score: 5, Informative

    Your name is personal data, but not private.
    Your phone number is personal data, but not private.
    Your Address is personal data, but not private.
    And of course, your IP is not private... but is part of your personal data.

    Maybe in USA there is no difference between private and personal data, but in EU there's a big difference: nobody can NOT store your personal data without warning you and giving methods to correct AND ERASE your data.

  4. It's Peter SCHAAR by Doctor+O · · Score: 3, Informative

    His name is Peter Schaar, not Scharr. One would think the editors would at least *skim* TFA.

    Oh, and he's a great guy BTW, responding to email in a timely and thoughtful manner, and investigating the questions he's being asked.

    --
    Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?