|
|
Translate:
              Schneier: Our Data, Ourselves
Saturday, May 24th, 2008
It’s also our lives. Our love letters and friendly chat. Our personal e-mails and SMS messages. Our business plans, strategies and offhand conversations. Our political leanings and positions. And this is just the data we interact with. We all have shadow selves living in the data banks of hundreds of corporations’ information brokers — information about us that is both surprisingly personal and uncannily complete — except for the errors that you can neither see nor correct. What happens to our data happens to ourselves. This shadow self doesn’t just sit there: It’s constantly touched. It’s examined and judged. When we apply for a bank loan, it’s our data that determines whether or not we get it. When we try to board an airplane, it’s our data that determines how thoroughly we get searched — or whether we get to board at all. If the government wants to investigate us, they’re more likely to go through our data than they are to search our homes; for a lot of that data, they don’t even need a warrant. Who controls our data controls our lives. It’s true. Whoever controls our data can decide whether we can get a bank loan, on an airplane or into a country. Or what sort of discount we get from a merchant, or even how we’re treated by customer support. A potential employer can, illegally in the U.S., examine our medical data and decide whether or not to offer us a job. The police can mine our data and decide whether or not we’re a terrorist risk. If a criminal can get hold of enough of our data, he can open credit cards in our names, siphon money out of our investment accounts, even sell our property. Identity theft is the ultimate proof that control of our data means control of our life. We need to take back our data. Our data is a part of us. It’s intimate and personal, and we have basic rights to it. It should be protected from unwanted touch. We need a comprehensive data privacy law. This law should protect all information about us, and not be limited merely to financial or health information. It should limit others’ ability to buy and sell our information without our knowledge and consent. It should allow us to see information about us held by others, and correct any inaccuracies we find. It should prevent the government from going after our information without judicial oversight. It should enforce data deletion, and limit data collection, where necessary. And we need more than token penalties for deliberate violations. This is a tall order, and it will take years for us to get there. It’s easy to do nothing and let the market take over. But as we see with things like grocery store club cards and click-through privacy policies on websites, most people either don’t realize the extent their privacy is being violated or don’t have any real choice. And businesses, of course, are more than happy to collect, buy, and sell our most intimate information. But the long-term effects of this on society are toxic; we give up control of ourselves. Have Your Say: Schneier: Our Data, Ourselves Please read our posting guidelines before posting. Alternatively you can discuss this report here. Related News
|
Crude Oil Rises as Slump Strengthens OPEC Resolve to Cut Output Last post by Unregistered @ 12:49 PM Go to Forum
| Latest Topics
HEY HUMAN! - YES you! - You do not have to be livestock - SO WAKE UP! Last post by Unregistered @ 12:07 PM Barack Obama 1961 birth announcement from Honolulu Advertiser Last post by Unregistered @ 12:00 PM A Cop's Eye View Of The Drug War Last post by Unregistered @ 10:24 AM Bush's Parting 'F*CK YOU' to America Last post by Unregistered @ 10:21 AM O'Reilly: Dangerous 'Far-Left Loons' Nixed Torture Last post by Unregistered @ 10:12 AM The Feast of the Vampires Last post by Arthur Silber @ 10:08 AM The Last US Enemy Combatant Last post by Unregistered @ 10:06 AM Obama-Cola The Great National Temperance Beverage Last post by JMM @ 10:05 AM Commons raid police 'knew they needed authorities' consent' Last post by Unregistered @ 10:01 AM  Email This Page To A Friend Latest Headlines
More World News  Archive
|
The views expressed in the RINF news wire and newsletter are the sole responsibility of the author (s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the webmaster. RINF.COM: Breaking News & Alternative Media is Copyleft - Copy & Distribute Freely. News Forum |
By 
Loading ...
