CfO on ISSUES- 16 and -204, definitions of collect/share/use/retain

As announced on the call on Wednesday, the co-chairs believe that the consensus of the working group was to adopt Option B for the definitions of collect/share/use/retain for both the TPE and TCS.




A party collects data received in a network  interaction if that data remains within the party’s control after the  network interaction is complete. 

A party uses data if the party processes the data for any purpose other than storage or merely forwarding it to another party. 

A party shares data if it transfers or provides a copy of data that it has collected to any other party. 

A party facilitates any other party’s collection of data if it enables such party to collect data and engage in tracking.




However, as noted by David Singer and Roy Fielding, there is an inadvertent error in the definition of shares.  That definition incorrectly predicates sharing on subsequently holding onto the data (this is I believe an artifact of an earlier definition of collect, which was broader and included any scenario where data came under someone's control).  The drafter did not intend this outcome, and Roy has suggested removing the words "that it has collected" from the definition of shares.  I believe this is an editorial fix, and no one objected on the call on Wednesday, but in the interest of transparency I wanted to note this to the group to ensure there are no concerns.  If there are none, the definitions will be: 




A party collects data received in a network  interaction if that data remains within the party’s control after the  network interaction is complete. 

A party uses data if the party processes the data for any purpose other than storage or merely forwarding it to another party. 

A party shares data if it transfers or provides a copy of that data to any other party. 

A party facilitates any other party’s collection of data if it enables such party to collect data and engage in tracking.




We will be releasing a (relatively short!) memorandum of explanation on this Call for Objection in the New Year.