Every day, millions of data are dumped on the Internet. Many people become aware of the size of their digital footprint late in life, often when it is harmful to them. For example, when looking for a job. It is often said “Once it’s online, it’s final”. However, this is (technically) false and the company Mine promises to make all traces of your digital life disappear in a few clicks, and all this, completely free of charge.
After their military service in cybersecurity units of the Israeli army, Gal Ringel, Gal Golan and Kobi Nissa created Mine to help Internet users.
What are your rights ?
EU data protection rules, known as GDPR (the European Personal Data Protection Regulation), describe different situations in which a company or organization is allowed to collect or reuse your personal information. . They have the right, under five conditions: when the company has concluded a contract with you, when it complies with a legal obligation, when the data processing is in your vital interest, when it is entrusted with a mission of public order or that legitimate interests are at stake. Otherwise, it must ask for your consent. Agreement that is often given without really doing extensive research.
Personal data, on the other hand, belongs to you. Everyone has the right to ask a business or organization to get a copy of this data in an accessible format, free of charge. The company must give a response within one month and inform you of how this data has been used.
There is also the “right to be forgotten”. “If your personal data is no longer necessary or if it is being used illegally, you can request that it be deleted”, indicates the Europa.eu website. It is thanks to this law that the start-up Mine operates.
How it works ?
It all works thanks to artificial intelligence. Ironically, the company begins by requesting access to the user’s email account. After a scan of the e-mails, which the company claims to be “non-intrusive”, Mine helps to sort companies that are always useful for the user from unwanted ones. Artificial intelligence also makes it possible to see what data has been shared (personal address, bank details, mobile phone number, etc.).
Then, Mine sends unwanted companies an email asking for the deletion of the user’s data, copying the latter.
What follows is less simple. Companies respond, they are obliged but they ask for identity verification or refer to their own user account management tools. Only 60% of companies complete the process by deleting the data. Already one million people have used Mine and more than ten million deletion requests have been sent.
The platform is totally free for individuals, and paid for businesses. Mine’s business model tends to evolve towards a subscription system, which would monitor the use of personal data over the long term.
How to protect your personal data upstream?
Ideally, you should always keep your social media accounts private.
It is necessary to update its cookies. It is this request that we acquiesce when we open an Internet page, without really knowing what it corresponds to. This is what allows websites to store our information. It may also allow the sites to sell this information to a third party. It is therefore important to change the cookie settings and not to click on “yes” systematically.
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This start-up offers to erase your digital footprint in a few clicks
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