Online auction house eBay is to be investigated over complaints that it is breaking the law by making it difficult for customers to remove personal details from its website.
The Information Commissioner has been asked to rule whether the auction site, used by 15 million people in Britain, is in breach of the Data Protection Act.
The investigation follows a complaint from the human rights organisation Privacy International which claims that only the most diligent and skilled internet customers can work out how to delete the information.
Accounts on eBay contain personal data such as bank details, addresses, past purchases and phone numbers.
Yesterday, eBay denied that it was being deliberately obstructive and insisted that instructions for deleting accounts were on its website.
Privacy International’s director, Simon Davies, said eBay was simply a test case.
Removing accounts from other websites — such as Friends Reunited — was just as difficult.
He also claimed that despite help from four internet professionals, he had been unable to delete an account with the online retailer Amazon.
“If you are concerned about privacy you would want to delete your account with eBay if it was no longer in use because it contains details about you and your bank account,” he said. “It is a fundamental right to have control over information about you.
“When a company say they won’t allow you to do that, or when they make it difficult, then your rights are effectively nullified. In an age when there is so much criminal use of personal information it is important that we have full discretion over who has the information.”

Posted: 09|2|06 at 7:38 am. Filed under: UK News.