EU GDPR - Opt in or Opt out ?

[peterworks]

I have today updated Avast. On the confirmation screen that the update has been successful they are recommending Chrome. There are two boxes (install and make default) which are ticked.
I was under the impression that the new(ish) EU GDPR directive required that users have to opt in rather than opt out. In the case of Avast they require me to opt out.
Have I misunderstood the directive ?

 

[trog]

I have today updated Avast. On the confirmation screen that the update has been successful they are recommending Chrome. There are two boxes (install and make default) which are ticked.
I was under the impression that the new(ish) EU GDPR directive required that users have to opt in rather than opt out. In the case of Avast they require me to opt out.
Have I misunderstood the directive ?

A couple of days ago I received an e.mail from Thompson & Morgan the seed/plant supplier telling me that they are changing their privacy policy, no longer would
ticking the opt out box on my account page function and that they would now assume that I was happy to let them use my data for marketing including passing it on to third parties, and use my Facebook and Twitter accounts if I have them in the same way. However if I wanted to opt out I would have to now e.mail them. Needless to say I did and made a point of telling them that if they failed to comply I would report them and if possible take legal action against them.
Avast always had the Install Chrome box ticked on the update software page but you had to click the "Install" box next to it, I have just updated Avast and need a restart to confirm your results, back in bit.

 

[trog]

I just updated Avast, installed update, told that it required a restart which I did, no "confirmation screen that the update has been successful " and no " recommending Chrome ". I opened Avast and just got the Usual "You are protected" screen, it had updated fine, no change to my browser.

 

[MikeSh]

Have I misunderstood the directive ?

I think so. As I understand it the directive relates to their storage and use of your data. This has nothing to do with pre-ticked options for installing stuff (unless that installation then impacts use of your data without your explicit permission).
Trog's example above certainly sounds like a breach of the directive - perhaps they think Brexit is going to happen and they'll somehow get away with it.

 

[peterworks]

Thank you trog and MikeSh.
I have just updated my other PC. After the required reboot subsequent to the installation I had the following screen on starting Avast:



However, it is probably not worth progressing as it seems to be one of those 'interpretation' anomolies.

 

[MikeSh]

Can you not un-tick the boxes? Although as it seems to have done the update, if you don't want Chrome just closing the window will probably be the same.

 

[peterworks]

Yes I do un-tick the boxes. I suspect that if I click continue without doing so, it will install Chrome.
My query was really as to the whether they should be ticked when the screen appears vis-a-vis, as I understood it, they should not be.

 

[prpr]

Thomson and Morgan were a hair's breadth away from a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office. They just saved themselves by removing me (manually & eventually after several complaints) from their spam list, but I won't be buying anything from them ever again.
Scottish Power will also be on that list if they make any more unwanted unsolicited calls about f***ing (so called) Smart Meters.

 

[trog]

Thank you trog and MikeSh.
I have just updated my other PC. After the required reboot subsequent to the installation I had the following screen on starting Avast:

View attachment 4000

However, it is probably not worth progressing as it seems to be one of those 'interpretation' anomolies.

I wonder why I did not get that screen, maybe I have ticked a box somewhere else excluding me from being hastled. I just get to rock the best ever version 19.3

 

[Luke]

Yes I do un-tick the boxes. I suspect that if I click continue without doing so, it will install Chrome.
My query was really as to the whether they should be ticked when the screen appears vis-a-vis, as I understood it, they should not be.

Interesting view.
I look at the display and what I see is a big green 'CONTINUE' button in the same section as the tick boxes. This to me means that the purpose of the green button is to install anything that is ticked in that section. The big green 'CONTINUE' button is also close to the Chrome graphic. which shouts to me that the 'CONTINUE' button is for installing the extras.

To me, this screen is honest. If I want to install the extras then I click on the button in the same section that is positioned close to the chrome graphic, and if I don't want to install the extras then I don't click on the button in the same section that is positioned close to the chrome graphic.

 

[trog]

Interesting view.
I look at the display and what I see is a big green 'CONTINUE' button in the same section as the tick boxes. This to me means that the purpose of the green button is to install anything that is ticked in that section. The big green 'CONTINUE' button is also close to the Chrome graphic. which shouts to me that the 'CONTINUE' button is for installing the extras.

To me, this screen is honest. If I want to install the extras then I click on the button in the same section that is positioned close to the chrome graphic, and if I don't want to install the extras then I don't click on the button in the same section that is positioned close to the chrome graphic.

A big green INSTALL button would be honest and if the slightly ambiguous CONTINUE button does not direct you to an option to install or not and installs instantly it is deceptive and aimed to catch the unwary.

 

[MikeSh]

A big green INSTALL button would be honest and if the slightly ambiguous CONTINUE button does not direct you to an option to install or not and installs instantly it is deceptive and aimed to catch the unwary.

I quite agree. Adobe were masters of this trick, nailing McAfee a/v into your o/s unless you were on the ball, though the bad publicity it got them seems to have made them back it off.
BUT, I don't believe this under-handed behaviour is covered by GDPR as it does not involve storage or use of your data.

 

[Black Hole]

BUT, I don't believe this under-handed behaviour is covered by GDPR as it does not involve storage or use of your data.

Correct. And on the opposite side of the coin, when GDPR/PECR was enacted, all manner of small organisations went overboard thinking they needed to take measures when they didn't - but lack of knowledge (or misinformation) made them decide to err on the safe side.

 

[EEPhil]

Scottish Power will also be on that list if they make any more unwanted unsolicited calls about f***ing (so called) Smart Meters.

I've got two really ancient smart meters. They are mechanical with rotating dials and/or wheels with numbers on them. By reading them every day I know exactly how much energy I'm using. Every so often I give those reading to British Gas, or someone comes and reads them. That is as much information as I want to give BG. I don't need to know how much energy I'm using each second of the day, and neither does BG - so these meters are smart enough. to the power companies.

 

[trog]

I've got two really ancient smart meters. They are mechanical with rotating dials and/or wheels with numbers on them. By reading them every day I know exactly how much energy I'm using. Every so often I give those reading to British Gas, or someone comes and reads them. That is as much information as I want to give BG. I don't need to know how much energy I'm using each second of the day, and neither does BG - so these meters are smart enough. to the power companies.

I do not know about British gas but now with Eon when your fixed rate deal expires their best replacement deals include agreeing to have a smart meter fitted.

 

[EEPhil]

I don't know if it's anything to do with GDPR but I'm getting fed up with certain webshites (quite often run on behalf of Nottingham y Council or one of their "arms-length" hangers-on) who ask you about accepting cookies. I clicked accept and then linked to another page on same site. Message about cookies pops up. Accept. Move to another page, message about cookies. Argh! . Come back to the site later after visiting somewhere else. Same process. It's not my end that's the problem. When you click on accept at https://robinhoodnetwork.co.uk/cards-and-tickets/robin-hood-pay-as-you-go-card.html it gets converted to https://robinhoodnetwork.co.uk/cards-and-tickets/robin-hood-pay-as-you-go-card35ab.html?action=cookie. Every time I visit the site.
[Not GDPR but supposedly hacking/spam/DDoS prevention]
And, as for trying to log in to British Gas, if I see another six or more ReCaptcha screens before I can enter the password I might pull my hair out!

 

[Black Hole]

These constant (but not as constant as yours!) cookie consent forms are a knee-jerk reaction to some legislation about not writing to your PC uninvited. Cookies should not be included - they're how the Internet works!

 

[EEPhil]

I'd like to jerk my knee so that my foot hits the web designer somewhere in the area of the cricket box.

Cookies should not be included - they're how the Internet works!

The internet could work without them - but you'd find yourself having to log in to this (and other) forum(s) every time. They can be useful to save information that is only relevant to you. eg. colour preferences, font size, last page visited - if you were reading something similar to an on-line book or learning material. They could be very useful in saving, in a cookie, the fact that you have consented to cookies on that site. Something lost on the y Council's family of webshites.