Closing my account — removing ALL my details

[Anonymous User]

Hello,

I want all my details removing from the NowTV system.

I have seen in recent replies that NowTV are saying that they NEED to keep details.

This is illegal.

https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/your-right-to-get-your-data-deleted/

Please provide me with a guide, or get in touch with me, so I can completely remove all of my personal details from your system.

[Saint1976]

@Anonymous User 

Please provide me with a guide, or get in touch with me, so I can completely remove all of my personal details from your system.

No one here will get in touch with you as it's a forum for customers like yourself and the moderators won't have access to your details. In your own link it states how to request the removal of your data. It can be emailed to customerservices @ nowtv.com (ensuring no spaces) or posted to their address which is listed in the terms and conditions.

I have seen in recent replies that NowTV are saying that they NEED to keep details.

This is illegal.

Neither of us are lawyers but I highly doubt Sky would make the mistake of keeping data illegally. They are entitled to keep data if it is for its original intended purpose. I'd hazard a guess that what they do keep (name, email address and possibly bank card) is for security, ensuring that people aren't making use of endless free trials and never paying for the service. 

If you have spare cash, hire a lawyer and test the system.

[Anonymous User · Accepted solution]

One should not have to hire a lawyer for a simple request to have an account deleted. I tried to do the same thing and found it really hard to find an avenue to doe this.

Eventually I found live chat and was offered to have my bank details removed and be removed from their mailing list, which was explained to me as good as having my details removed. This is not the solution I requested and I had to continue to push for a full account deletion. I was then told that my request had to go to the back office to be reviewed and verified and should be completed within a month.

I appreciate my request has been received, but think that NOW TV are making it deliberately difficult to delete accounts. For the record, live chat can be found in this link:

https://help.nowtv.com/get-in-touch/now-tv-account-payments/changing-my-account-details

[Saint1976]

@Anonymous User I wasn't implying you hire a lawyer to get your details removed.

OP's assertion was that keeping details is illegal when it isn't. The GDPR are very clear that companies can keep details in certain circumstances so if he feels they are breaking the law, hire a lawyer and challenge them.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/principles/storage-limitation/#:~:text=The%20GDPR%20does%20not%20dictate,that%20permits%20identification%20of%20individuals.

[Anonymous User]

Keeping account details when you've asked for them to be deleted does contravene GDPR. I see your point, but in the bigger context of the original issue and my personal experience having the same problem, I feel NOW TV act unethically and deliberately frustrate and make difficult the removal of your account.

To back up my point, every single reply from this forum, when asked how to delete your account, explains how to cancel your plan, a completely separate issue.

I am an web administrator for a large corporation, which holds private information and understand what I'm allowed to keep and what i can't and certainly know that information should not be kept if it has been requested to be deleted. Your first reply infers that there's a requirement to hold information. Perhaps that's the case, but a request to have your account deleted is a clear and unambiguous request, that should not be denied.

On another note, I am always wary of any service that does not allow me to remove or delete my own information from their platform.  

[Saint1976]

@Anonymous User I'll never disagree that it's hard to get accounts deleted. It's hard enough to get passes cancelled.

There is a difference though between getting your account deleted and getting information/data deleted. Retaining payment information (card details) and information that identifies you as you can be kept if sky can prove that retaining that information is still being used for its original intended purpose. In this case it ensures the security and integrity of their service ie preventing fraud by constantly deleting all information and then subscribing to free trials. From the summary of GDPR

"Individuals have the right to have their personal data erased if:

the personal data is no longer necessary for the purpose which you originally collected or processed it for;"

But like I said, I'm not a lawyer and until someone can afford to challenge that, they will keep keeping some information.

[Anonymous User]

As you state, following the GDPR rules:

the personal data is no longer necessary for the purpose which you originally collected or processed
it for;

So if you no longer wish to user their service, they have no right to hold your information. I do not wish to get into defrauding a company by multiple uses of free trials, as this has never been the point of the thread. The original issue and every response I've made is simply about getting an account deleted.

Also from what I've read on GDPR, I don't see any valid reason for holding payment details. You either have an active account or not. Only an active account should authorise holding of payment details.

[ukbobboy]

@Saint1976  @Anonymous User 

Hi Guys

First, this is the most interesting thread I've read for a long time, not only that the opposing views presented here, for me, are both not wrong, just opposing each other.

From a POV, as a customer, I would want my details, including my  financial details, totally deleted from their database when I eventually leave Now TV.  However, from the company's POV, there are some data, which I call "forever data", that I would want to keep for security reasons and possibly prevention of future financial problems.

Going a bit further, I would suggest that most people would be happy, after leaving Now TV, if they knew their undeleted data was rendered inactive and unable to be used for anything else, other than data protection and security.  That way former customers would be reassured their data could not be used to promote adverts, used in publicity materials or sold on to other companies.

I guess the main problem is, we don't know how our data is used after we leave the company we gave that data to.

UK Bob

[Saint1976]

@ukbobboy it's always nice to have a discussion on here rather than the often given 'here's the customer services email address' comment.

I can certainly see the point of view @Anonymous User has as a customer and like you say, we just never know what companies are doing with our data. The trouble we also have is it's all bundled up in legalese which is never quite the black and white we hope it to be until it's challenged through the courts.

Just as a side note though to both, financial details (card numbers, expiry date, transaction amount, transaction dates/times) aren't governed by GDPR but PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and there's no limitation on how long a company can keep those details. As a general rule merchants and vendors keep them for 2 years to cover the 18 month limitation on contested transactions!

*I only know this as I have to do it every year for my own company!

[Anonymous User]

Two very good replies and i see the point about the legal requirement to keep certain data. But my main issue with their system is the inability to delete my own account. I honestly don't care that they've got my email and address (they were very good in regards to deleting my financial information). 

But it's ridiculous that you can create an account in 2 minutes on their website, but you're not able to delete your own account and are only offered the cancel a pass.

I have no requirement for this account, as after creating the account I chose not to use it, so naturally would prefer the account to be deleted. But to do this i had to chat with their customer services and even they can't delete my account. It has been escalated further and I have been quoted GDPR terms of having a request for erasure completed within a 30 day timeframe, but they can't guarantee to comply with my request.

It's really simple, i created an account, decided the next day i didn't want it and now i want to close/delete my account. Why is it so difficult? 

[Saint1976]

@Anonymous User 

"Why is it so difficult?"

The million dollar question that's asked here often but to be fair to NowTv, it's not just them who make it difficult. There are a few theories but the long and short of it will be that they don't want you to leave! No subscription based service does. As long as they have the information, they can send you offers and attempt to lure you into purchasing their product.

So I got bored last night and read NowTV's privacy policy

https://www.nowtv.com/gb/widget/eng/privacy

I'll caution you, it's a very long read. The first two things that stand out are what I suspected - that financial details are kept for 2 years and that they expressly state that although you have a right to erasure they have the legal right to keep some information (the legalese I mentioned)

"Please note that some of these rights are not absolute.....if we had a legal obligation or right not to comply with the request."

The stand out section for me is how long they keep our information - 7 years! That's a long time for them to try and lure you back.

If I was in your position I'd bypass customer services. No disrespect to the guys and girls sat in an office in India but I doubt they have any idea what GDPR stands for let alone know what 'right to erasure' is. There's an email address for a department that deals with privacy issues so you're probably best emailing them and reminding them of their duty to action your request within 30 days!

 

[Anonymous User]

lol jog on @Saint1976

"I highly doubt Sky would make the mistake of keeping data illegally"

As if you're suggesting Sky don't make mistakes like this. Sky have a proven track record of sailing close to the line and I personally know of a number of people who have had issues with Sky that are unethical and borderline illegal.

Get real buddy.

"Hire a lawyer"

lol, you b-end.

[Anonymous User]

I want my account fully deleted. Acc # 623604578251 I've not used this service for over 12 months but find you are illegally holding onto my personal details. Please close this account and remove all my details from your database. Thank you. Please confirm when done.

[gavs82008]

@Anonymous User 

Your best to email customer support, we are just customers like yourself so we definitely won’t be able to delete your account.

Address is in the below picture.

 

[Anonymous User]

Thank you.