The Privacy Commissioner is launching an inquiry into Trade Me's recent changes to their privacy policy.
Changes, which came in to effect last Monday, now allow Trade Me to use information already collected from members who previously opted out of having their information used for marketing or advertising purposes.
Customers were notified of upcoming changes to the privacy policy in November through an email, which stated the changes were to allow customers receive personalised messages.
"For instance we could provide details on a sports gear sale if they’d been searching for a rugby ball onsite, or show a message about Trade Me Motors Background Checks to someone who was listing their car. Or we could offer someone a $5 Trade Me credit if they hadn’t been on-site for a while," says Trade Me spokesperson Logan Mudge.
Mudge says they are surprised by this move from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner after having made efforts to discuss their policy changes.
"We have offered to sit down and speak with them further about this change on several occasions. We stand by our decision to make this change, and making Trade Me more customised and relevant to our members."
The change to the privacy policy does not include providing data to third parties, he says is members opted out they will still not receive targeted third party advertising on Trade Me.
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