Today is Data Protection Day – or Data Privacy Day in the US. I thought I’d write a little poem to mark the occasion – so here it is:
Privacy’s dead, I’ve heard it said
It’s time to face the truth
It’s only fogeys who complain
Just listen to the youth
The young don’t care, don’t care at all
They share all day and night
And only those with things to hide
Put up some kind of fight
But is this true, I ask myself
Do kids not really mind?
Just talk to them, you’ll find they do
Their views are much maligned
But what they see as privacy
May not be what you say
For privacy’s not quite so clear
As hiding things away
What’s private may be bad or good
It may be big or small
It may not seem to matter much
But that’s just not your call
And in these days of online life
Of smartphones and the net
We pour our lives out digit’ly
In ways we might regret
…if data’s not protected well
And that means we need law
Law that’s written well and strong
With our rights at the core
Can law solve problems on its own?
Of course not, don’t be fooled
But law can play a crucial part
It can be one key tool
That’s why, though there are problems – huge
And many a massive flaw
I still campaign and still support
Data protection law
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Apologies for the scansion…… and some of the rhymes!
You’re right of course; I was wrong the other day to criticise the focus on preventing the #snooperscharter from being introduced in an underhand way, yet again.
I still think, tho’, that long-term we need to fight a much wider battle. It’s a battle that covers not only privacy behaviours and assumptions in government/the security agencies but the wider idea of public service: our society will continue to fail if we can’t trust our elected representatives. It’s not *just* legislation we need to battle piecemeal on; it’s also a concerted effort to change governance cultures themselves. In the end, if someone’s culture leads them to not want to collaborate in good faith, any laws anyone cares to fight for and pass will be circumvented by those who think they need to.
I suggest a Bill of Rights which embeds the right and obligation to privacy as well as a whole host of other matters in the relationship between governors and governed. There may be other mechanisms others have in mind – but something at least which addresses cultures *as well as* laws.
I agree with all of that!