Anyone able to help regarding The Data Protection Act?

Taiko

Hi guys,

Just a general query and just after opinions on whether this is going to be possible.

I have subscribed to an online game for the past few years on and off, however I logged in to my account today to find myself suspended. The game is made by a Japanese company, with offices in London and California as well as their head office in Tokyo.

In my discussion with their staff, I managed to find out that all conversations are logged, and that I was suspended due to a complaint made against me but they would not disclose what it was as it was not their policy to do so.

I am considering making a Subject Access Request for details as to the nature of the complaint as it's a judgement against my account, and also for a copy of the discussion logs. Any ideas as to whether I can obtain these, as when I did mention I would be considering this route I was told they do not have to comply because they are a Japanese company. I thought if they were holding information collected within the UK they would have to have some sort of data controller.

Any help would be appreciated.

Meepster

If the servers are in Japan, they abide by Japanese law, it doesn't matter when the "conversation" took place...

Taiko

Ok, thanks for the help.

Wasn't too sure, as all my bills are automatically in sterling through them, and thought they were collecting data within the UK. Looks as if I won't have a lot of luck going down this route.

MothballsWallet

If the company has a call centre in the UK for customer support or enquiries, then they are still bound by the Data Protection Act, and you can make a Data Subject Request to them. It'll probably cost you a tenner as most companies charge the maximum fee for actioning these requests even when their records are fully computerised.

Even if they store your data in Japan, the Data Protection Act includes legal controls on exporting customer data to other countries, and not just ones in the EU. Just ask BT what they have to do in order to have a call centre team in India who can access customer account information - they can't just ship the data out there.

Anihilator

Yes but none of this matters as it seems there fully based in Japan and thus japanese law applys.

I think in this case the DSAR might not help anyway as the data about this could be protected under someone elses DPA rights