The BBC is to introduce password protection for certain iPlayer programmes, after the Government gave the green light for a trial paid-for online services.
The change is expected to come into force by February 2017.
Under current arrangements iPlayer users are able to register on the website in order to receive a more personalised service. More than 7 million users are currently registered in this way.
The BBC hopes the new system will allow better tracking of iPlayer users, which in turn will assist with the development of future programming.
There are no plans, at the moment, to tie a user's personal details to their TV licence. That being the case, it could not be used to assist with enforcement of the TV licence fee. Anyone registering for the new service will have to enter their name, email address and post code only. The BBC has given assurances that it would never share users' personal details with any third party.
Lord Hall, the Director General of the BBC, said: "I want everyone to get the very best from the BBC. By learning about what you want and like we can take you to more of the great programmes you love, stories you might be interested in and content you might otherwise never have discovered.
"This is a real transformation - reinventing public service broadcasting for the digital age. Millions of people are already benefiting from this more personalised BBC, and by rolling it out for everyone no one will be left behind."
There is no legal requirement for anyone to give legitimate information during the iPlayer registration process, so we'd encourage the use of imaginary names and the post codes of BBC or TV Licensing related properties.
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4 comments:
"The BBC has given assurances that it would never share users' personal details with any third party." This is just bollocks. the BBC is TV Licensing. So it's a very short step to tie in such registrations with a TV licence.
But why would anyone choose to give their personal details to the BBC? It's very 1984ish—we know who you are, where you live, what you are watching, and whether you have a TV licence.
But I now get news from the internet, weather from Edinburgh airport's met station, music from Spotify—so no interaction at all with the wretched BBC's hubristic drivel.
good article but sucking up to will not share with third party is wholly incorrect as i understand the tv licensing is an brand of the bbc arm which is managed by capita at this moment in time is an third party please do explain this to people especially to the newbie who may not know this already thx
Bear in mind that should passwords be required for radio iPlayer nothing will change as radio will remain licence-free. Any personal details harvested could only be used for marketing purposes. I suspect that should any details re Radio iPlayer usage be forwarded to Capita TV Licensing it could be construed to be a breach of the DPA as listening to the radio isn't a licensable activity.
I'd expect the BBC's enforcement methods to stay the same - letters and visits with the TVL178 form. They really don't need to carry out any complex investigations trying to link computer use to specific people. The present system means the magistrates are used as a part of the BBC's revenue raising efforts. It's notable that in places like the Channel Islands, tens of thousands of people don't pay the BBC a penny - maybe because the payment has become effectively voluntary.
BTW if anyone wants a laugh, look what's happened to the Capita share price in the past two days.
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