Shredding your data

BBC Breakfast had a spokeswoman on air this morning talking about privacy and personal data theft. Although she was giving it the dumbed down - “I know you’re still eating your Cornflakes and about to pile the kids into the Range Rover” - version, she did start talking about destroying printed material with your address or bank account details on it. What caught my ear was the fact that she said, “Well yes, of course, shred all your paper now,” and she said it in quite a matter of fact, throw away manner. Things really have changed huh?

So this comes in the same week that the Guardian newspaper reported that the European Commission is threatening legal action against the UK government for failing to properly safeguard individuals' personal data. Specifically, this is data that the government has on file about us, the citizens.

Delving a little further, I found that we have a body called the Information Commissioner's Office. This unit describes itself as the UK's independent authority set up to promote access to official information and to protect personal information - you can find them at www.ico.gov.uk/ They are sponsored by the Ministry of Justice if that makes you feel better.

No coincidence then to find my inbox lightly peppered with a couple of data privacy flavoured press releases this morning. So for a view from the industry itself, this is what Informatica was happy to go on the record with. “Globally many governments recognise the value that the holding and sharing of accurate data can bring in protecting its citizens, by improving security and homeland security tactics and reducing benefit fraud and the associated burden on taxpayers,” said UK MD Paul Billingham.

“However, the public's perception of this value will be seriously harmed if the government in question does not ensure that the data is accurate, is not corrupted when moving from one platform to another and that procedures exist to prevent misuse. The government departments that we have seen have struggled to do this when they are not equipped with the right data automation tools required for the job," he added.

Do you feel safer now? No, me neither. Are we getting there? Slowly, by all accounts I’d say. Will we be better protected in future? The potential is there yes and so is the technology – but it may require quite a sea change in attitude. From who though - us or the government, the banks and all the other corporate bodies who hold our personal data? I fear it may be the latter.