Europeans on Data Protection and Online Identity [Survey].
The below quote is from the article “Brits Back Twitter, Facebook Shutdown During Civil Unrest” in Forbes yesterday.:
“And if you thought Europeans flew the flag for privacy, 42% believe social network providers should get more information on people using their services before allowing use, …”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2011/11/08/brits-back-twitter-facebook-shutdown-during-civil-unrest/
I’m not sure if that information is from the UNISYS survey (938 respondents), but all other surveys in the last couple of years has come up with entirely different results. Europeans are VERY concerned about privacy and the EU Data Protection Commission and national data protection bodies are listening and responding to our concerns.
“A new survey requested by the European Commission reveal some interesting facts about how Europeans feel about data protection and online identity. Some of the findings are
- 62% of people in the European Union give the minimum required information so as to protect their identity
- 75% want to be able to delete personal information online whenever they want to – the so-called right to be forgotten.
- 90% want to have the same data protection rights across Europe.
The report also shows differences of opinion depending on the age and digital experience of the recipients. In general, “digital natives” (born and raised with digital technology – 15-24 year olds) feel that disclosing personal information on the internet is not such a big issue and are most likely to trade such information for the provision of free services.” (http://ict-endorse.eu/?p=539)
Full report here: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_359_en.pdf
re The real you: Say goodbye to online anonymity
Really good piece by Jim Giles (@jimgiles) in New Scientist:
“While no western government is proposing anything similar [… to sign up with their national identity number to post comments …], private ownership of identity databases like Facebook’s and Google’s introduces comparable problems. Facebook has a history of changing its privacy policy suddenly to suit its commercial aims. While Google’s stated mission is to organise the world’s information, “at the end of day it makes its money by selling its users’ profiles to advertisers for target marketing”, says Dino Pedreschi, a computer scientist at the University of Pisa in Italy. Pedreschi, who is working on a major study of trusted identity systems, says it is crucially important for such systems to be controlled by entities who are not driven by profits.”
Full article: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228361.800-the-real-you-say-goodbye-to-online-anonymity.html?full=true
Source: newscientist.com
It’s important for people to remember that Facebook — like most social networking applications and other “free” online services — is not really free: All of us pay for these services in micropayments of personal information over time.
Source: krebsonsecurity.com
Source: joyoftech.com
The problem… is that most members of Congress don’t pay attention to what’s going on.
Source: brainyquote.com
Europe vs. Facebook
Twitter: @europevfacebook and #evf
Bank Transfer Day
Bank Transfer Day is a consumer activism[1] initiative calling for a voluntary switch from commercial banks to not-for-profit credit unions and community banks by November 5, 2011.
Twitter: #BankTransferDay
German State Orders FB ‘Like’ button Removed - Roundup
Excellent to see that so many have picked up on Schleswig-Holstein’s data protection commissioner’s instructions to remove Facebook’s LIKE button from websites.
My Paper.Li “Dataprotection & Privacy News” was so jammed with tweeted links for the story, that I had to remove a bunch.
Article in the Daily Mail: German state orders its offices to shut down Facebook pages after fears ‘Like’ button ‘breaks European laws’
Original announcement by IAPP Europe: https://www.privacyassociation.org/publications/schleswig-holstein_commissioner_orders_site_owners_to_deactivate_analytics
And my Tweets starting it all *irony*
19. August:
IAPP: Schleswig-Holstein commissioner orders site owners to deactivate analytics http://t.co/cUoIqvn #dataprotection #privacyless than a minute ago via web
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Thomas Wintour
Unknown452
20. August
Business Analytics generated by Facebook’s LIKE feature is violating #EU #DataProtection directive http://t.co/cUoIqvn #ICO #DPAless than a minute ago via web
Unknown452
http://media.twitter.com/blackbird-pie/)
Schleswig-Holstein’s Data Protection Act (might actually be a law in Germany?) is within the directives set out by the EU Data Protection Commission, so I would hope that the other national DP commissioners are looking into this.
Here is a list if you want to give them a gentle reminder: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/eu/index_en.htm