Re: 2015 SCJ 177

From: Dhiruj Rambaran <dhiruj_at_shoponline.mu>
Date: Sat, 06 Jun 2015 11:33:33 +0400

Hi,

Yes there is a training issue, lack of competencies etc. But this all
forms part of the vicious cycle of being an underperforming country in
terms of the quality of our compromised education system... a system
which could have benefited vastly through IT (or even just common sense).

The point is, within this cycle, there has to be a place to start and I
believe it's through allowing biometrics/IT to do what it does best.. to
improve the lives of everyone in the long term. It's already proved it
can do so in practically all ways.

Our world is now a data-driven world and all opportunities are coming
from it. As I mentioned we can be pedantic and speak of every aspect of
privacy, right to information etc but, in the long run, I believe it's
an overkill. Yes it still makes sense to question decisions, but should
be done so with all other considerations (eg the development of a
data-driven country).

And as for privacy being compromised 20 years ago, I'm not making
reference to just mobile, but to the passport office, banks, hospitals,
newspapers etc.

Kind Regards

Dhiruj



On 06/06/2015 04:16, S Moonesamy wrote:
> Hello,
> At 12:26 05-06-2015, Dhiruj Rambaran wrote:
>> So let's look at our lives as it is. If you're stopped for a crime
>> and you're innocent, chances are technology would have saved you
>> rather than having human error/greed/corruption, condemn you. If
>> you're ill, chances are you'll die from human error than being
>> tracked by technology. If you're at school, chances are technology
>> will turn you into a semi-genius rather than human teachers, with
>> degrees acquired by copying fellow students, thus making your
>> children even more stupid in the long run.
>>
>> All our basic needs, education, legal, health, jobs, etc, will all
>> benefit from Data acquisition, starting from our personal data.
>
> The following is from a report by Sachooda Ragoonaden published in 2013:
>
> "- Meteorological services
>
> One trained person sent for training but his skills are not
> sufficient to set
> up or operate a meteorological GIS
>
> - Ministry of Environment and NDU
>
> Two members of staff followed short courses in Australia and
> Nairobi. Their
> skills are not adequate to implement a GIS project."
>
> "The competence of the local scientists is not increasing at the
> rate of the
> technology transfer."
>
> "In spite of much effort to promote training in GIS, there is
> currently a
> shortage of adequately trained people in the country. Most of the
> GIS
> projects are implemented mainly by foreign consultants. After their
> departure, projects are left at a standstill and incomplete."
>
> Is it possible to derive the benefits in education, legal, health if
> there aren't adequately trained people to do the work? How will the
> technology be managed if the competence of local scientists is not
> increasing at the rate of the technology transfer?
>
>> And another thing. We have no problem revealing our deepest secrets
>> to Zuckerbergs' "Graph API" (re: Facebook), mapping the whole of
>> humanity, segmenting all personal data acquired for systematic target
>> marketing, influencing our behaviour (as zuckerberg once tried to do
>> as part of a secret experiment) etc. We have no problem giving banks
>> all our personal details, or hospitals all our medical information.
>> Yet all this information is kept in paper files or easily accessible
>> systems.
>>
>> My point, at the end of this is, are we giving too much importance to
>> the, so-called, "privacy" we THINK we currently "enjoy"? ... or has
>> our privacy already been compromised 20 years ago?
>
> I'll comment on the point in the last paragraph.
>
> Am I giving too much importance to "privacy"? I discuss about it as
> it is something which I consider when I am setting up a (technical)
> system. I have to answer questions about the privacy impact of that
> system. There is also a law in Mauritius about Data Protection. I
> would not ignore it.
>
> There is an article about security and privacy in the local press [1]
> which has the following:
>
> "Me Yousuf Azaree souligne que la loi n’empêche pas l’employeur de
> prélever
> les empreintes digitales de ses salariés."
>
> "Aucune loi mauricienne ne fait mention d’une quelconque obligation de
> l’employé de fournir ses empreintes digitales à son employeur."
>
> The following may be questions which some people face in their
> everyday life in Mauritius: What should the employee do? Is this a
> privacy question or some other question? Should the employee be able
> to decide about that?
>
> Was privacy in Mauritius compromised 20 years ago? In 1995, mobile
> penetration was 1.05%. Technology which has an impact on privacy or
> security was not widely deployed in Mauritius.
>
> Regards,
> S. Moonesamy
>
> 1.
> http://www.defimedia.info/defi-quotidien/dq-xplik-cas/item/74059-controle-biometrique-empreintes-digitales-faut-il-les-prelever-sur-le-lieu-de-travail.html
>
>
>
>
Received on Sat Jun 06 2015 - 07:34:01 PST

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