There is a peril in conflating the concepts of open data and personal data
Sometimes you sit down to write a post and you get to work on it, only to find that someone else has done it first – and what's more, in 22 words flat.
Ms Hall goes on to describe how midata will force suppliers who already provide us with a record of our transactions to provide us with a record of our transactions.
How Midata will affect business and consumers
Kathleen Hall
Tuesday 20 November 2012 12:47
As the government pushes private companies to release customer data under its Midata initiative, Computer Weekly looks at what this means for the digital economy and who stands to benefit most from this new form of "consumer empowerment".
The government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has singled out energy companies, mobile phone firms, banks and payment companies as key organisations that should release customer data to allow consumers to make more informed decisions under its Midata initiative ...
She introduces the reader to Professor Nigel Shadbolt, co-director with Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee of the Open Data Institute (ODI). He believes that there is money to be made by people writing apps to process personal data and help them to make better decisions.
She interviews Nick Pickles, the director of Big Brother Watch, who has reservations about midata.
And she interviews Owen Boswarva:
And there it is. In 22 words. Admirable conciseness: "There is a peril in conflating the concepts of open data and personal data, which I feel the government may be doing". That's all that needs to be said.
Owen Boswarva, open data activist, warned there is a danger of consumers being blasé about their information being passed on to third parties. He said the potential risks were in danger of being de-emphasised.
“On the face of it, this is presented as being an unalloyed good thing, and you can’t argue with having more access to data. But it will depend on the checks and balances in how this is implemented,” he said.
Boswarva said he would like to see additional processes built in to ensure data is handled properly.
“There is a peril in conflating the concepts of open data and personal data, which I feel the government may be doing,” he said.
(Boswarva links added by DMossEsq,
not in Computer Weekly article)
Glutton for punishment?
Here's the DMossEsq 1,000-word version.