A mobile phone number is currently required to confirm registration, access to social networks. It is left at the conclusion of contracts and when subscribing to the newsletter. As a result, the number may get to third parties involved in the sale of services by telephone. Unpleasant and inappropriate conversations, constant calls and persistent SMS - all this is familiar to many owners of mobile phones. You can read more about whether the phone number is personal data and how to deal with unsolicited calls in this article.
What is personal data?
Personal data processing laws are constantly being tightened. What is personal data by law?
At first glance, this is any information that relates to a person. But in reality, only those that can indicate a specific citizen are considered personal. This may be the following data:
- name with surname and patronymic;
- Place of Birth;
- year of birth;
- numbers of all personal documents (SNILS, passport, TIN, birth certificate, etc.);
- education documents;
- labor information from the employee company: this includes data on salary, position and employment contract.
What relates to the employee’s personal data? An employment contract, income information, notes on business and personal qualities, as well as employee qualifications and experience can help establish a person’s identity. Personnel specialists regularly encounter such information and do not have the right to disclose it to third parties without the knowledge of the employee. If you are applying for a job, make sure that your contract does not have a separate clause that allows third parties to use your personal data.
Is the phone number personal data?
The phone can store payment data, phone numbers of other people and passwords from social networks. But the phone number itself can become a key that helps to know your data. After all, when registering a new SIM card, you are always asked for passport data. Is the phone number personal data? According to the law, by one number only, attackers are unlikely to be able to establish your identity. But if the name is along with the number, then the probability of this is much greater. But even so, there is a clear answer to the question whether the phone number is personal data. While you rent it from the company, it does not have the right to carry out any operations or transfer it to third parties without your knowledge.
Legal basis
In Western countries, personal data laws have long prohibited any use of information without the consent of a person, and violation of the law is strictly punishable. In Russia, the rules have only recently been tightened, but now more attention is being paid to this area. In 2006, the Law on Personal Data was adopted, which states that people who have access to personal data do not have the right to disclose or transmit this information without the consent of the information subject.
The adopted law raises more questions than answers. For example, it is not very clear what minimum amount of information can be considered personal data. Often, citizens have to resolve this issue in court. There are cases when a person was found by email address or by ip account.At the same time, according to judicial practice, the combination of name and patronymic on the Internet does not allow to reliably establish their owner, therefore, this information, as a rule, does not apply to personal data.
What is personal data by law? The Law has 3 articles, which says that this is any information that relates indirectly or directly to a person and allows him to establish his personality. Thus, both the phone number and even the email address can be considered personal data.
Home phone
Is the home phone number personal data? Like a mobile, home number allows you to indirectly determine your subscriber, which means that it falls under the article of the Law "On Personal Data". No one has the right to transfer your data to third parties without your consent. Currently, less and less people use landline phones, but there are enough people who want to sell their goods in order to disturb at any time.
SMS spam
According to the Law “On Communications” adopted in 2003, if a subscriber can be somehow identified by a phone number, his consent must be obtained in order to send out advertising and other actions. That is why it is illegal for many companies involved in spamming via SMS and cold calls. And if we can easily block or unsubscribe from unnecessary e-mail letters, SMS messages do not provide such an opportunity. What to do if you are aggressively phoned and advertised for products of a company to which you have never left your mobile number?
Try to state your rights first in words. Mention of Law N 126-ФЗ and No. 152-ФЗ, which regulate the use of personal data, can have a magical effect on callers. If this does not help, and persistent sellers continue to bother you, then you can go to court. In judicial practice, there are already many cases where a judge passed a sentence not in favor of companies.
Summary
There is a clear answer to the question of whether a mobile phone number is personal data. The Law "On Personal Data" clearly indicates that only you can manage your number and give it to unauthorized persons. If this was done without your knowledge, then you have the right to sue the violators. The home phone number belongs to the same category, because it can be used to find out the subscriber’s address. Therefore, if strangers call you to persuade them to buy their product, do not be afraid to complain to the appropriate authorities.