CCleaner 5.43.6520 - Cannot opt-out of privacy exposing compulsions !

[saurabhdua]

Hi there !

Please refer to the enclosed pictorial description & help address the respective concern.

Iam unable to Opt-out of these compulsions ! ...& don know why ?

Have you singled out 32-bit users to thrust upon such a coercion ??

Inputs are awaited....

Thanks.

[hazelnut]

If you have the free version apparently you cannot opt out

Paid users can.

[nukecad]

Under the new UK-DPA 2018 and GDPR, both of which come into force on Friday 25th May, this method of consent to data collection/sharing will be illegal in the UK and Europe.

I've been looking into them over last couple of weeks and the inability to untick the boxes would count as an invalid method of consent.
At the bottom of this ICO article there is a list of what makes consent invalid, among others these include:

 

Quote

• there was no genuine free choice over whether to opt in
• you use pre-ticked opt-in boxes or other methods of default consent;
• people cannot easily withdraw consent;

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/consent/what-is-valid-consent/

I would also judge that by having this consent 'burried' in Options>Privacy it would also not be classed as valid consent as "the individual doesn't realise they consented".

Avast/Piriform may want to take another look and ensure that their products comply with the new legislation.
They have obviously included that new privacy section because of the new legislation, but the data consent options should not be pre-ticked and must be unselectable to fully comply with the legislation - even in the Free version.

Of course that doesn't directly help here because the OP is in India where UK and EU law does not apply.
(But if Piriform are going to change it then the change will probably apply worldwide).

[danm]

So now CCleaner became spyware. I''ll stay with the last "clean" version CCleaner Portable v5.42 and won't update again.

[Laurence CCleaner]

Your privacy is very important to us and we commit to ensuring the continued confidentiality and security of all data we collect and process. We also require that any and all parties which have access to our data adhere to strict security standards and best industry practices. This protects your privacy, whether you are an EU resident or not.

As part of this commitment, we’ve updated our Privacy Policy and added a new ‘Privacy’ tab into our software. If you're a CCleaner user, in this tab you can adjust your privacy settings. Privacy settings are unavailable for Free users as we do not collect any personal identifiable information, so Free users are essentially anonymous.

[nukecad]

22 minutes ago, Laurence Piriform said:

Your privacy is very important to us and we commit to ensuring the continued confidentiality and security of all data we collect and process. We also require that any and all parties which have access to our data adhere to strict security standards and best industry practices. This protects your privacy, whether you are an EU resident or not.

As part of this commitment, we’ve updated our Privacy Policy and added a new ‘Privacy’ tab into our software. If you're a CCleaner user, in this tab you can adjust your privacy settings. Privacy settings are unavailable for Free users as we do not collect any personal identifiable information, so Free users are essentially anonymous.

Please re-read my post above, and the link to the UK regulators information regarding consent.

By having those boxes pre-selected, and not accesible to un-select, you are not complying to EU/UK legislation.

You are not even complying with your own published privacy policy!

Section B, Options, clearly states:

Quote

Third party analytics – when we share your data with a third party for analytics, such as purchase optimization, crash reporting, and trend analytics. Note, all free users and paid customers can choose to turn of this feature.

No - as it stands we can't "turn off this feature".

Quote

Privacy settings are unavailable for Free users as we do not collect any personal identifiable information, so Free users are essentially anonymous.

Read the legislation (or get someone who can understand it), if you have such a consent setting showing then the individual must be able to opt out, whether you are actually collecting data or not.

One of the main reasons for GDPR was to address and clean up practices like this in spftware and online.

 

I'm trying to help you out here, your are not going to get censured for this, at least in the early days of the legislation.
But it is something that you should be addressing, especially once it has been pointed out.

[Andavari]

I'll just keep using the old archived CCleaner Free Portable v5.40.6411 I have!

[Special]

^^ Same here I'll be on v 5.40.6411 for a long time I think, I'll just keep adding to Winapp2 and get cleaning options from that. To bad I'll have to avoid that Font Cache option since it's a ticking time bomb. Anyone know what it cleans so I can make it an "exclude" rule?

[nukecad]

40 minutes ago, Andavari said:

I'll just keep using the old archived CCleaner Free Portable v5.40.6411 I have!

They are not collecting any data that they didn't with previous versions.

These new laws are not so much about what they can take, more about getting your permission, and especially how they look after your data

The new EU legislation means that they have to be more open and transparent about it, and can't without your consent.
Of course these new, strengthened, rules only apply in Europe. The USA and elsewhere have their own data protection rules.

(Sorry Andavari, you are not covered by EU/UK legislation).

In Europe, as from tomorrow, they need your explicit consent to collect and store your data, and they must give you an opt-out, they need explicit consent to pass it on to others, and they must tell you just what they are holding about you if you ask them to, and generally they can't charge you for suppling you with your own data.
There are new rules about just what explicit consent means, and pre-selected (or hidden behind 2 or 3 levels of weblinks) tickboxes definitely do not comply.
There are also new rules about individual rights to get incorrect data corrected, and/or even deleted in some cases.

If the big organisations had been more conscientious, and especially more transparent, about what and how they collected data, and didn't keep loosing it to hackers and leaving unencrypted laptops lying about on public transport, then there would have been less need for this new legislation.
Not that you are ever going to stop hacks, but again the new regs are very clear about what you must do if data you hold is lost, hacked, or otherwise made public.

It's the big organisations that have made the new rules necessary, and as usual it's the small business who will affected most by it.

[Augeas]

The second contentious check box above is meaningless in the free version, as you don't supply any contact information.

As for the first, you - meaning everybody - have already granted permission to use your data when you accepted the terms and conditions.

There's a lot of self-righteous indignation here. No more data is being collected than before, but now you won't use the product? I should advise you to stop looking at the website, just see how much info is collected from those fleeting moments of innocent pleasure.

Personally I don't really care two monkeys'. My usage data is utterly irrelevant in terms of human existence. This is the opposite of when we were asked what browser we wanted to use, and we kept being asked until we had to beg Please, No More - This One - Now Go Away!

[nukecad]

You are correct that the second checkbox has nothing to do with it.

I'm also not bothered about what data Piriform may or may not be collecting.

I'm simply pointing out that as it stands it does not comply with the new legislation. 

The privacy statement does comply,

but I guess that something got lost between the statement and the implementation.

It happens, nobodys going to get crucified for it. Fix it and move on.

[hayc59]

Its really to bad you all went this direction..shame shame....looking now for a alternative program!

You can say all day long you are collecting data..but its the trust factor for sure and for me its lost

[mta]

10 hours ago, Andavari said:

I'll just keep using the old archived CCleaner Free Portable v5.40.6411 I have!

me too. (although I was told v5.40 was unstable apparently - but hey, they all could be categorised as that these days   )
and wasn't the big jump in the file size of CC between the v5.40 and v5.41 releases?

[Andavari]

v5.40 has never been unstable on my old XP Pro system.

[hazelnut]

From a member of the Avast team over on Avast forum..

Quote

No reason to blame Avast, this was the decision of CCleaner team because of GDPR, but it should be visible for users to change it (it's same as in Avast). We will ask them to change it.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=219255.msg1463033#msg1463033

[saurabhdua]

Piriform must emphasize on - ' Sportsmanship ' rather than gamesmanship  on this topic !

Treat all your Global users as equal ! & offer us the 'privilege' to Opt-out.

Thank you.

[wigga whambo]

Until they fix the tickboxes (if they ever do), I will stick with v5.40.6411 and leave it at that.  Free users or not, I think it's pretty stupid putting in a couple of tickboxes that can't be unticked.  You might as well just leave it as a policy note or not tell anybody about your privacy policy at all.

[nukecad]

Those who say they will use an older version are completely missing the point.

The older versions will still collect exactly the same data, they just won't have the (untickable) privacy option showing.

The new legislation just makes data collection more 'transparent', and is supposed to give you a clear opt-in, not an otp-out.
(And it has to be a choice, it can't be 'accept or don't use our stuff').

As I keep saying, it's not a big deal, people are going to make mistakes with this new legislation, and they are not going to get penalised for it unless they refuse to put it right.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44208456

Some US concerns are already overreacting and have blocked access to their websites in the EU in a panic move, (news sites especially for some reason?)

[weaselbites]

Two things for me.

 

1) Is it possible to a see sample data report, of the sort of information Ccleaner is collecting.

I would love to believe companies when they say it is the bare minimum, but if you remember what happened with Windows 10. First it was its the bare minimum to make everyone's computers better. Then the French Regulators got involved, and somehow, magically, Microsoft managed to reduce that data collection by half. I wonder why. So although some items are listed in the privacy policy, I am not sure that this is the full gist.

By the way, when you say data is anonymised, if your collecting the Window's user name, then that anonymity cover is blown. As most users will use their first name as the name of their Windows Profile. 

 

2) I am a paid user in the EU. How do I go about requesting all information that you hold on me? Is there a simple link to fill in or do I have to do something else?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nukecad]

Quote

I am a paid user in the EU. How do I go about requesting all information that you hold on me? Is there a simple link to fill in or do I have to do something else?

It's simple, if you are an EU resident.

(I'm not sure of the rules in the USA or elsewhere in the world).

Same as before, you put in a "Subject Access Request" for all the data/information that they hold on you.

This can be done by phone, email, or letter.
And can be done to any employee of the organisation, but it's best to contact the correct department, most organisations will now have a 'Data Protection Officer'.
Some organisations do have a special form to make things easier/clearer. But even if they do you don't have to use it, they must respond to all requests however made.

There have been a couple of changes, in the individuals favour, to SARs under GDPR -

1. They must now supply your information within 30 days.
2. They cannot (normally) charge you a fee for supplying the information.

(Under previous UK DPA law it was 40 days, and they could charge a £10 fee).

Here is the UK Information Commissioners Office page about 'Right of access' under GDPR:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-of-access/

Edit- that's the page about an organisations responsibilities for SARs, here's the consumer page:
https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/your-right-of-access/

[nukecad]

Interesting thing just happened.

I also have CCleaner Free on my Android phone and it's just updated.

In the Menu > Settings there is a new 'Personal Privacy' section which has one entry - "Share usage data with third parties for anaylitics".

This has a slider button which is on by default but it CAN be turned off.

An improvement by letting it be turned off, but under GDPR it should still not be on by default.
(and it probably shouldn't be 3 levels in, but that one is debatable).

8/10 must try harder.

[mooms]

Just block Ccleaner executables in your firewall, (as I always did), problem solved.

[nukecad]

Again, I'm not bothered about the data - I'm just trying to help Piriform comply with the new legislation.

[Andavari]

On 5/24/2018 at 08:48, nukecad said:

They are not collecting any data that they didn't with previous versions.

It's not really the data collection ("analytics") since it was revealed that they already did that, more like avoiding issues, etc.

[nukecad]

Looks like a hotfix has been released to let you uncheck the options:

EDIT- Confirmed, there is now only the 3rd party warning and it is unselectable.

(Still shouldn't be pre-selected to fully comply with GDPR, but it's a start).

Quick work and shows that they do listen.

Apologies for the link, I can't edit it - just scroll up from there.