Data Packrat Accountability
Cory Doctorow has a very interesting comparison to make in his latest Guardian post between the kinds of accountability radioactive waste and personal data are required (or not) to maintain.
Every gram – sorry, byte – of personal information these feckless data-packrats collect on us should be as carefully accounted for as our weapons-grade radioisotopes, because once the seals have cracked, there is no going back. Once the local sandwich shop’s CCTV has been violated, once the HMRC has dumped another 25 million records, once London Underground has hiccoughup up a month’s worth of travelcard data, there will be no containing it.
It’s an interesting read, but in the end, how secure do we really need things to be? Are we all willing to pay the prevention costs? God forbid the Department of Homeland Security gets wind of this idea and decides they’d like to take it on.
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