Hi Dhiruj,
Since you are pro data-collection, and apparently you have nothing to
hide, I'd appreciate if you could publish your passwords, bank records
and hospital records on this mailing list. We don't have a policy in
place as to what we'd do with this data, but I can assure you we'll be
looking out for your best interests.
> Mauritius is full of data breaches
Yes, and so is the rest of the world. This is a serious problem, and a
legitimate reason to limit the collection of data.
> However when I look at Mauritius, of how far behind the country is
> vis-a-vis the developed world, I can't help but think how education,
> the health system, legal system, general bureaucracy etc could really
> benefit from having our data recorded.
You are making a direct link between recording data and the vast
benefits you see from using the data in a postive way. I doubt that
link is anywhere near as direct as you think.
Data collected in the EU is at least partially protected with protocols
and privacy laws. In Mauritius, I am not convinced the these policies
are mature, or there is any form of enforcement in place.
> We have a lot of catching up to do if we want this nation to be
> intelligent, prosperous and a raised standard of living throughout our
> country.
Agreed.
> Using Information tech with such data can have patients bodily
> functions monitored from their own homes, education could be vastly
> improved, without chance of plagiarism, monitoring students progress
> on a daily basis throughout their 9 years of schooling, thus producing
> a vastly superior education system (see Khan Academy as a broad example).
Yes there are a lot of good things that can be done with technology.
Yes monitoring systems can help in specific circumstances. No it is not
a magic bullet, and I doubt the technical expertise exist in Mauritius
to develop these things (although yes, they can be purchased from
overseas). This also has nothing to do with biometric data on the ID card.
> Voting would be accurate (and not people in Rose Belle stealing whole
> ballot boxes, people voting twice etc), the whole country would become
> efficient through data.
So you think mass collection of personal data is a good idea in a
country where voting is not stable?
> 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.
This is called the "Nothing to hide argument
<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_to_hide_argument>", and it's often
used by law enforcement. It's a fairly chilling concept for privacy, and
I disagree with it strongly.
> All our basic needs, education, legal, health, jobs, etc, will all
> benefit from Data acquisition, starting from our personal data.
Good luck with that. Are you suggesting Facebook has improved my life
somehow, because it collects lots of data?
> 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.
Actually yes I do, and I'm not alone. The European governments have
intervened several times in Facebook's and Google's data collection.
What is the Mauritian governments track record? What are the policies here?
> 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 bank only knows about some of my financial details. My hospital only
knows about my medical information. I am under the impression that
neither my bank nor my hospital is allowed to give my details to a 3rd
party. I would like to keep it that way.
I do not know how secure my information is in the bank or hospital, and
I'm sure it could be improved. Since I consider it reasonable for my
hospital to have access to my health data, I accept the risks that come
with that. In other countries any data breaches are treated very
seriously, and there are forced disclosure laws in place. I don't know
what the laws and practices are like here.
> 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?
My point is that it's a delicate balancing act. We have had much of our
data eroded in the last 20 years, and things are going to continue in
that way as data collection becomes technically easier. I think it's
important to guard our private data, and good governments are doing
exactly that. I think your "collect all data" view is rather invasive.
The Government should not be collecting data that it cannot handle in a
responsible way. So, I'd prefer to keep my data private for now.
Dan.
Received on Sat Jun 06 2015 - 08:17:38 PST