Privacy & Required Location

[Mr Lucky]

I wonder whether there are privacy issues associated with requiring a location on registration - both from a legal and "general respect of privacy"point of view.

And obviously people can lie or just fill in some garbage, but I wonder what you all think about this?

On our forum it is useful for people to see where others are or where they are from. Nobody has complained, but plenty do put Narnia, or Over the Rainbow etc.

In a way I'd rather see that than nothing but I wonder if some day I will get somebody spouting their privacy rights under GDPR.

 

[motowebmaster]

It's an option on my forum, because requiring it would stretch regulations in some countries, but there is peer-pressure from within the community to share where they are from. I show their Flag, spot on a membermap, and etc. In other words, they can input whatever location they want, but everyone is going to see at least which country they connect from.

So if someone says they want to meet up for a ride in Perth, AU; and their flag shows up as connecting from Helsinki, they'll get asked just how fast their bike is

 

[Mr Lucky]

because requiring it would stretch regulations in some countries

Does anyone know if it is actually against regulations or just stretching them I wonder?
And is it reasonable to think that registering to the forum is not compulsory hence it is not forcing anyone to divulge their location if they don’t want to join?