Is public wi fi obliged to seek registration

GoodLord

I was in a shopping centre and tried to connect to a public wi fi network and it said I should register as my phone had not been seen before and they were legally obliged to keep a record or similar wording. i declined and connected to a different free no reg no legal obligation network

Are they oblioged to do this and is the second one wrong.? Satisfying my curiosity not seeking advice no issue with either of them.

coylemj

The vast majority of pubs and cafes with free Wi-Fi in this country do not ask you to register so I suspect there is no such legal requirement. As you were in a shopping centre I'd say they wanted you to register so they could put your e-mail address on their mailing list.

Isn't Dublin airport run by a semi-state company and they don't expect you to register?

Manach

Offhand, there had been an obligation under the Data Detention directive to store transmission records. This might be the source of this perceived need to register, However, as this was recently struck down in Europe then this would be a grey area.

rab!dmonkey

coylemj wrote: »

The vast majority of pubs and cafes with free Wi-Fi in this country do not ask you to register so I suspect there is no such legal requirement…

That is not my experience at all. I find that most such establishments in Dublin do require that you register, often by way of some third-party service which facilitates a single sign-in for any number of locations.

The reason why they are compelled to seek your details is that places that offer free Wi-fi are considered Internet Service Providers (à la Eircom, UPC, Sky etc.) and are required by statute (I don't know which exactly, sorry) to know who they are providing their service to.

coylemj

rab!dmonkey wrote: »

That is not my experience at all. I find that most such establishments in Dublin do require that you register, often by way of some third-party service which facilitates a single sign-in for any number of locations.

The reason why they are compelled to seek your details is that places that offer free Wi-fi are considered Internet Service Providers (à la Eircom, UPC, Sky etc.) and are required by statute (I don't know which exactly, sorry) to know who they are providing their service to.

Dublin Bus, the Dart, Dublin airport? All you have to do is open a browser window, click to accept the terms and conditions and you're connected.

GoodLord

coylemj wrote: »

Dublin Bus, the Dart, Dublin airport? All you have to do is open a browser window, click to accept the terms and conditions and you're connected.

In the one i connected to there was not even a need to click to accept the terms and conditions .Just connect and browse

CIARAN_BOYLE

coylemj wrote: »

Dublin Bus, the Dart, Dublin airport? All you have to do is open a browser window, click to accept the terms and conditions and you're connected.

first time you use a device on dublin bus you get a form that you have to fill out. After that its just click

Five Lamps

The wi-fi may be public but it's privately owned and you use it according to their terms and conditions and that may include a requirement to register. Up to the operator how they want to run it. Their only obligation is to collect, store and use your personal data collected in accordance with the law.

What annoys me is that many of these registration forms aren't mobile optimised.

GoodLord

Five Lamps wrote: »

The wi-fi may be public but it's privately owned and you use it according to their terms and conditions and that includes a requirement to register. Up to the operator how they want to run it. Their only obligation is to collect, store and use your personal data collected in accordance with the law.

What annoys me is that many of these registration forms aren't mobile optimised.

well the one i did connect to did not have that requirement

Five Lamps

GoodLord wrote: »

well the one i did connect to did not have that requirement

Sorry typo ... should have read "may include a requirement to register"