[governance] BBC links:Privacy Concerns over States/Corporations'Use of Personal Info

[mashi3981 at yahoo.com]

Just thought the following links might be useful to
you.

The BBC news articles below address privacy concerns
over states' and corporations' use of personal data.
The basic summary is the following:
1. States collect personal info by various methods
(eg:CCTV/closed-circuit TV in roadways).
Corporations collect personal info by various means
(eg:credit card transactions).
2. The info collected by a single entity 
(state/corporation) is considered 
SEPERATELY BY ITSELF. The combination of
data collected by different entities is NOT 
considered by many people.
3. Corporations are now building their businesses
by DATA MINING on previous customer interactions with them. This is common
practice.
4. If there are no safeguards to prevent corporations
from **SHARING** personal info with other corporations/state, then IN THE
FUTURE, an ECONOMY based on personal info will come up (eg: a business targets
only rich customers based on info obtained from their bank records, insurance
companies may turn down requests based on info obtained
from health services etc).
5. If there are no safeguards to prevent state agencies from **SHARING**
personal info with other state agencies/corporations, it could lead to SOCIAL
DISCRIMINATION.
(eg: Traffic police may stop cars to do checks based on
info obtained from other state agencies regarding race of the driver of car.
ie. linking number plate to name, name to race, and race to probability of
person committing a crime).
6. Different ways outlined are CCTV(closed-circuit TV), number plate
recognition, shop RFID, mobile phone triangulation, store loyalty cards, credit
card transactions, electoral rolls, health service records, TV preferences
recording, worker monitoring etc
       Although some of them apply to only DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (like CCTV),
many could also apply to DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (like credit card transactions,
mobile phones).
7. Concerns outlined are 
   a. loss of privacy
   b. loss of choice/consent by consumers
   c. discrimination
8. IN THE FUTURE, when RFID (radio-frequence ID) tags become  cheap, they could
create 'AN INTERNET OF THINGS'.
9. There are great risks if the info contained in the databases are
wrong/inaccurate or if it falls into wrong hands.

*How we are being watched -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6110866.stm
*Britain is 'surveillance society' -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6108496.stm
*Q&A: Radio-frequency ID tags -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6055296.stm
*Trust warning over personal data -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5172890.stm
*Is business the real Big Brother? -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5015826.stm

Thanks,
Mashi
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