Privacy International, a UK-based privacy rights group, has filed a formal complaint with the UK Information Commissioner alleging that both Amazon.co.uk and eBay.co.uk engage in policies that contravene the Data Protection Act. Specifically, the complaint alleges that both Amazon and eBay share personal and financial information of account holders with third parties without specific customer assent or even knowledge. Further, neither Amazon nor eBay allow customers to delete personal information or close accounts.

In its own investigation of Amazon.co.uk, Privacy International workers opened a customer account and then attempted to close it. Nowhere on the Amazon.co.uk website did Privacy International workers find information on how to delete personal information or close an account. Privacy International concluded such action is simply not possible.

The best that can be said for eBay's account deletion policy is that it is not as bad as Amazon's. While it is theoretically possible to delete information or even close an eBay account, the information on how to do so is buried so deeply in the help section, and requires so many convoluted steps that the transaction creates an undue burden on consumers, the majority of whom will be unable to follow the complex procedures to the end.

Should the UK Information Commissioner find Privacy International's complaint to have merit, Amazon and eBay could face heavy fines in the UK, as well as similar complaints in many other countries in which the companies operate. Privacy International is already investigating similar complaints of privacy violations in Asia and North America. While castigating Amazon and eBay, Privacy International applauded the privacy protection policies of YouTube and MySpace.

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