Help: Data Privacy
As a sharing site, PriceShare values the contributions of our users and we like
to credit users with information they have provided. However, we respect that some users
prefer not to be named.
Three Forms of Contribution
Normal Visible Contribution
If you are logged in and submit prices, products and receipts, the normal practice is that the site will indicate that you are the contributor and your name will be listed next to the price. This name is a link to your public profile, where your other public contributions are listed. We think this is a fair acknowledgement of your effort. If at any stage you want to become anonymous, you can change the setting on your account (see below), and every contribution will become anonymous to the public.
Logged In But Anonymous
In this case, you submit data while you are logged in, so behind the scenes the work will be credited to you, but there will be no visible show to the public of your contribution. All the prices you contribute will be shown as "Anon". If at any stage you want to become public again, you can change the setting on your account (see below), and every contribution will become visible to the public.
Not Logged In
In this case you submit prices, products and receipts as normal, but you are not logged in. There is no link to you at all, even in the database. All your contributions will be listed as anonymous, and you won't be able to link this back to your account in the future at all, even when we introduce reward schemes for contributions. While we respect this approach, we don't like it because it makes it harder for us to fix issues that you are experiencing, and it also makes it harder for us to deal with abuse performed by anonymous users. In theory, if the abuse (wrong prices, etc) gets out of hand, we would have to disable this option.
If you are logged in and submit prices, products and receipts, the normal practice is that the site will indicate that you are the contributor and your name will be listed next to the price. This name is a link to your public profile, where your other public contributions are listed. We think this is a fair acknowledgement of your effort. If at any stage you want to become anonymous, you can change the setting on your account (see below), and every contribution will become anonymous to the public.
Logged In But Anonymous
In this case, you submit data while you are logged in, so behind the scenes the work will be credited to you, but there will be no visible show to the public of your contribution. All the prices you contribute will be shown as "Anon". If at any stage you want to become public again, you can change the setting on your account (see below), and every contribution will become visible to the public.
Not Logged In
In this case you submit prices, products and receipts as normal, but you are not logged in. There is no link to you at all, even in the database. All your contributions will be listed as anonymous, and you won't be able to link this back to your account in the future at all, even when we introduce reward schemes for contributions. While we respect this approach, we don't like it because it makes it harder for us to fix issues that you are experiencing, and it also makes it harder for us to deal with abuse performed by anonymous users. In theory, if the abuse (wrong prices, etc) gets out of hand, we would have to disable this option.
The Technical Challenge of Abuse
As a clarification, it's important to understand the difficulty faced by a technical team
trying to combat abuse. While anonymity is probably a necessary requirement for this site,
it leaves the door open for some users to abuse the system. This includes adjusting prices
deceitfully to favour some stores or products. You can imagine the loss of confidence our
users would experience if they felt we were providing unreliable data.
When there is a possibility that incorrect data is provided, the safe option is to delete all data entered at that time. Obviously this is messy, and we can lose good contributions.
Simply put, you make our jobs simpler when you contribute from a logged-in account, as we can identify trends from accounts and safely ignore users who are providing decent data.
When there is a possibility that incorrect data is provided, the safe option is to delete all data entered at that time. Obviously this is messy, and we can lose good contributions.
Simply put, you make our jobs simpler when you contribute from a logged-in account, as we can identify trends from accounts and safely ignore users who are providing decent data.
Switching the "Anonymous" Status
When you are logged in, at the top right you will see a link called "Account", which is used
to set details related to your account. Click on this link and click on "Edit Preferences",
which will give you the option of changing the "Remain Anonymous" option. Click "Save" when
you're done.
Remember that all your contributions are affected by this setting. Everything will either remain public or remain anonymous - there is no customisation between the two.
Remember that all your contributions are affected by this setting. Everything will either remain public or remain anonymous - there is no customisation between the two.