– ‘You are unauthorized’: Nearly 50% of EU organizations deny access to personal data (RT, June 24, 2014):
Four out of ten organizations obstruct citizens from accessing their own personal data, says a recent study. Companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter also fail to fulfill their duty to be transparent.
The international study, conducted by experts from the University of Sheffield, has inspected at least 327 organizations across Europe, including the UK, Norway and Germany.
“Our online behavior is monitored, analyzed, stored and used. The challenge for all of us is that our information is often kept from us, despite the law and despite our best efforts to access it,” says Professor Clive Norris, a specialist in the sociology of surveillance, who led the study.
According to the report, the research found that in almost 20 percent of cases, “it was simply not possible to locate a data controller.” The report added that in the places where the controllers could be located, the quality of information varied enormously.
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