[gdpr-discuss] Git and the Right for Rectification

[gdpr at sheogorath.shivering-isles.com]

On 05/21/2018 06:22 PM, Jonas Wielicki wrote:
> On Montag, 21. Mai 2018 17:57:42 CEST Winfried Tilanus wrote:
>> Git has the pressing need of
>> maintaining code integrity and traceability. The final decision will be
>> up to a judge, but my bets are on the need of maintaining the code.
>> Something similar will be the case with Bugzilla.
>
> So I was wondering about Git and the Right for Rectification. In
contrast to
> the Right to be Forgotten, the Right for Rectification, does not have any
> exceptions I am aware of.
>
> Now what if somebody commits code to a Git repository (so the commit
includes
> their name and email address) and they change for example email
addresses. In
> that case, from my understanding, the Right for Rectification would
trigger
> and the controller of the Git repository may be forced to rectify the
> information.
>
> This would require re-writing all history since that commit, which is
a huge
> issue.
>
> One argument against that which I heard that:
>
> - The email address was valid at the time the commit was made and is
thus an
> accurate representation of the history at the time the commit was made
(which
> is timestamped) and thus doesn’t need to be rectified.
>
> - It is expected that the user would provide accurate information and
if they,
> for example, have a typo in e.g. their name in the commit metadata, it
is kind
> of their fault and this does not need to be corrected.
>

Well, whose fault is is doesn't really matter to the GDPR.

But no matter what, for git repositories, the solution is as easy as
old: mailmaps.

If someone wants to correct their mail address, just add a .mailmap file.

For details check: https://www.git-scm.com/docs/git-check-mailmap

I think this should be enough on top of HEAD


-- 
Signed
Sheogorath

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