Just a quick question I have, is it illegal to pass the details of customers on to your dropshipper without them knowing?
Warren

It is not illegal as far as I know, as long as the dropshipper is trustworthy and they will not sell your customers details to a third party.

All they need is name and address. I would never send email addresses, although some would like phone numbers to pass on to couriers.

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Probably this should be put into your Privacy Policy to avoid any problems, especially if you deal with US customers.

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The safest way to cover your back is to put a line in your Privacy Statement to say that you may have to pass on their contact details to other companies, but only for the fulfullment of their order(s).

I'm pretty sure that the DPA states that you are not allowed to pass them on without their consent. They do not have to actually write to you, or email you, but are deemed to consent by the way of agreeing to your T&Cs by ordering.

Basically, i have nothing about this in my privacy policy, and have only handed over the name and address, so surely this is readily available in the phonebook etc? I have had a customer tell me that they have reported me to the police as this is illegal? i have no clue how they found out, but im just slightly concerned now

Originally Posted by wazza121990

Basically, i have nothing about this in my privacy policy, and have only handed over the name and address, so surely this is readily available in the phonebook etc? I have had a customer tell me that they have reported me to the police as this is illegal? i have no clue how they found out, but im just slightly concerned now

Well you need to put it in your policy. Something about "sometimes the goods are sent directly to you from our supplier and we will need to pass your name and address on to them."

Here's mine - don't copy, please -

With whom may the information may be shared?
Personally Identifiable Information about Authorized Customers may be shared with our suppliers who will supply products directly to the end user. This is limited to Name, Address and Phone Number necessary for product delivery. In these cases, we are usually passing on shipping addresses supplied by our customers, nothing more.

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does anybody know if it actually illegal then, because as far as i was concerned i thought it was fine, obviously now i will be adding this into my policy, thanks pete.

anybody have a clue?

First things first - if you are running a business and collecting any customer's personal information (this could simply be name and email address), you must be registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as a data controller.

The legislation covers not only the collection of the information, but also the safe storage - you must be able to prove that the data is stored securely.

I suspect that a lot of the smaller traders on here have not registered and anyone reading this that isn't, please consider doing so for your own protection - the ICO do have sharp teeth.

You can find some good info here :-

http://www.ico.gov.uk/Home/what_we_c...rotection.aspx

This is a useful guide and has links to their FAQs.

Anyone collecting contact information should register and pay the annual fee (£35 I think), as it is illegal not to do so and could have serious consequences.

A good place to start is by ordering their FREE interactive training DVD "The Lights Are On". It also has a quiz on the DVD to see how much you know about the DPA. all staff here have watched the DVD and some of it may seem obvious, but it is quite a light hearted film and done in a mildly amusing way.

You can order copies from here :-

https://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_res...lications.aspx

I know it sounds like I'm a paid rep for the ICO, but having registered 3 businesses with them, I am totally aware of the obligations.

BTW, they have examples of their enforcement actions to view on the site as well. You may be surprised at some of the organisations that have been in breach of the rules - even the Home Office!