Tuesday 14 May 2013

midata is an attempt to get us all to embrace PDSs (personal data stores)

Comment submitted to Craig Belsham's midata blog:
Mr Belsham

My objections to midata are set out in my response to last year's BIS consultation and I shan't repeat them all here.

None of midata's claims to empower the consumer and to expand the economy is even remotely convincing. Which leaves me asking, like Paul Clarke, why?

One hypothetical answer is that midata's sole purpose is to encourage people to maintain PDSs (personal data stores).

That hypothesis is consistent with William Heath being a member of the midata strategy board and the chairman of Mydex – a PDS company – which is, in turn, one of the UK's eight appointed identity providers. It makes midata part of the Government Digital Service's Identity Assurance Programme (IDAP).

It doesn't excuse the mendacious marketing. But at least it explains why Whitehall takes the trouble to promote this otherwise fatuous initiative.

What do you think, Mr Belsham?

No comments:

Post a Comment