As the world become globalized, privacy issues become much of the concern now a day, especially how company handle their customer’s information…
Customers are required to register to the company’s website in exchange for gaining access to certain benefits (you have now already disclosed your personal information to the company). Some companies state that they will keep your information confidential, however to what extent you can be sure that they did not sell your information to other.
Your information alone would not be that much of use for them, but, how about millions of personal information? Many companies utilize this information to leverage their marketing activities unethically i.e. direct mails, spams or junk mails. Check out your post box, how many junk mails have you received already this week (not surprisingly, mine’s 5).
Talking much of the negative aspects of using personal information, however, if the information is being possessed by a right person, it can also create a good cause for the society. Myki, for example, is being used by the police to track down commuters' movements.
Similar to credit card, Myki contains a microchip which stores your balance, recent journeys and transactions (if you are registered). Upon a formal request, Transport Ticketing Authority (TTA) will hand over the information as part of separate police investigations. Since December 2009, there had been already four requests about customers. The recent case was a Queensland woman, whom police wanted to interview as part of murder probe. The poll from this news suggests that vast majority of the passengers (63%) are concern with their privacy.
However, the question is: Do people knowingly trade privacy for convenience?
The increased convenience of mobile phones, the increased convenience of Myki, the increased convenience of iPad - people focus almost exclusively on the convenience and don't give a moment's thought to how the electronic track provides a ready bank of electronic information that the police can readily access.
Whether it's good or bad is a matter of perspective and the issue is open to debate. In my opinion, Privacy's not a matter of covering when you're doing something wrong. A level of privacy can be a matter of life and death. However, the use of personal information gathered by the TTA needed to be "carefully considered" and "protections" must be built into the system.
Imagine what would happen if the operator of the Myki system decides to start stalking you himself?
Or what if they secretly sell your travel patterns to businesses?
Yes, this data is already out there. But the more places it's stored, the more points of failure there are where the system can be abused.
Customers are required to register to the company’s website in exchange for gaining access to certain benefits (you have now already disclosed your personal information to the company). Some companies state that they will keep your information confidential, however to what extent you can be sure that they did not sell your information to other.
Your information alone would not be that much of use for them, but, how about millions of personal information? Many companies utilize this information to leverage their marketing activities unethically i.e. direct mails, spams or junk mails. Check out your post box, how many junk mails have you received already this week (not surprisingly, mine’s 5).
Talking much of the negative aspects of using personal information, however, if the information is being possessed by a right person, it can also create a good cause for the society. Myki, for example, is being used by the police to track down commuters' movements.
Similar to credit card, Myki contains a microchip which stores your balance, recent journeys and transactions (if you are registered). Upon a formal request, Transport Ticketing Authority (TTA) will hand over the information as part of separate police investigations. Since December 2009, there had been already four requests about customers. The recent case was a Queensland woman, whom police wanted to interview as part of murder probe. The poll from this news suggests that vast majority of the passengers (63%) are concern with their privacy.
However, the question is: Do people knowingly trade privacy for convenience?
The increased convenience of mobile phones, the increased convenience of Myki, the increased convenience of iPad - people focus almost exclusively on the convenience and don't give a moment's thought to how the electronic track provides a ready bank of electronic information that the police can readily access.
Whether it's good or bad is a matter of perspective and the issue is open to debate. In my opinion, Privacy's not a matter of covering when you're doing something wrong. A level of privacy can be a matter of life and death. However, the use of personal information gathered by the TTA needed to be "carefully considered" and "protections" must be built into the system.
Imagine what would happen if the operator of the Myki system decides to start stalking you himself?
Or what if they secretly sell your travel patterns to businesses?
Yes, this data is already out there. But the more places it's stored, the more points of failure there are where the system can be abused.
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