Information About Us and our Right to Know

Written on February 18th, 2009 by syamant

Absolute power corrupts. So does Absolute information.

There are enough examples of breach of policy and that there needs to be oversight to ensure things remain in control.

There is already enough about information collection practices that is worrying. Should the customer not have a way of knowing what Google, Facebook, or any other provider has collected?

Should the customer not be aware of the data sharing practices of an organisation ? Specifically who has it been shared with and for how long ?

If the information is likely to be misused or is being misused, what is the recourse of the individual ? After all a “free” service does not mean that information can be freely used or there is no recourse.

The damage caused to an individual can be irreparable by an “inadvertent” mistake of the company.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Recent

Sustainability Sits Best under Marketing in Many Cases

namrata on July 18th, 2010 View Comments

A company’s sustainability strategy is best delivered through the marketing department, according to Unilever’s new chief marketing and communications officer ...more
The Gender Equation in CSR

namrata on July 14th, 2010 View Comments

I just read this post on Gender Bias in CSR . After reading the ...more
Integrated Reporting – Opportunities and Challenges for CEO’s / CFO’s of Indian Companies

namrata on June 30th, 2010 View Comments

In business school we were taught ʻHow to read a balance sheetʼ. Many hours were spent coming to terms with ...more
On Mentors..

syamant on May 20th, 2010 View Comments

In a world where everyone is seeking smart people , experts and lists, the real lessons that one learns are ...more
FaceBorg. You will be Resisted.

syamant on May 9th, 2010 View Comments

In the world that the leader of Faceborg lives in, he thinks of Faceborg as a country on the planet. His ambitions include making Faceborg the center of this planet or maybe replace the name of all people, countries and even the planet. Welcome he says because resistance is futile. It is interesting that Faceborg thinks of itself as a country. The country is not a democracy and infact they do not hold free and fair elections to anything. They just decide and rule and then change their mind and make new rules. To rule. In this assimilated world there is only one option you have only one place to turn to. Faceborg and the option to Like. Faceborg thinks of inhabitants as objects. Objects to be manipulated and mashed and shared with other participants such as the builders who make newer applications that manipulate them. They have forgotten that these are not objects but real people who need to be treated with respect. In reality, Faceborg is just a company with some customers. A company that has mistakenly thought of its customers as objects. It thinks that its real customers are developers, advertisers etc. The mistake it is repeatedly making is that it is ignoring the people who have made this company. The Faceborg of the past and the company of today are two different things. The people who signed up for it made the mistake of not understanding the ambitions of this company or were perhaps the company has diverged from its original path. If there is one thing that the history of this planet tells us, mistakes are often corrected, belatedly sometimes . If Faceborg had their way, they would assimilate but there are enough people who feel that assimilation is futile. We are people who will find a better alternatives away from the greed and ambition of Faceborg. If you are concerned about your Faceborg account think about this and join the resistance. If you want to leave this Faceborg, why is there just a deactivation and why not a complete deletion. Why are they profiting from your individuality even after you have stopped the service? If there is a problem, do you know of any easy way of contacting anyone in Faceborg. There have been many problems people have faced. Have they got a satisfactory response? What is the safety and support net Why is it not possible to see who of these unknown third parties access your information and to what end they use it? Should a company have access to so much data just because they can. What are the checks and measures that various countries are going to build so that their citizens are safe from the predatory practices of Faceborg? Assimilation is Futile. What are your thoughts on Facebook? more

Your Personal Insights

syamant on January 11th, 2010 View Comments

These questions, will perhaps create the personal insights that matter to, guide us through our goals in 2010 What is ...more
The Power of Beginning

syamant on January 8th, 2010 View Comments

1. There is always a new beginning. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” Seneca “When one door of happiness closes, ...more
Future Gazing statements

syamant on October 4th, 2009 View Comments

“There is no practical obstacle whatever now to the creation of an efficient index to all human knowledge, ideas and ...more
The word innovation is increasingly over used

syamant on August 21st, 2009 View Comments

Who has a major role to play when it comes to long term commitment to innovation ? [fs:http://innovateonpurpose.blogspot.com/2009/08/innovation-and-unrealistic-expectations.html] Beyond words, how ...more
Corporate Culture

syamant on August 13th, 2009 View Comments

[slideshare id=1798664&doc=culture9-090801103430-phpapp02]

Comments

on July 18th, 2010

Thanks Fabian for the comment.You are right, there is a need to put in sustainability related checks and measures into ...more
on July 18th, 2010

Hi Namrata. Thanks for this very interesting insight. I agree with you on the importance of marketing for sustainability. I also think that the marketing function has a very important role to play ...more
on July 15th, 2010

(There was a similar conversation going on about gender with regards to CSR somewhere else quite recently, so I apologize if I'm cross-posting.)As a man working in CSR, I get the ...more
on July 14th, 2010

The stereotypes are just that: statistically significant behavioural patterns that are broadly applicable to populations. That is why they rile people. But the people who are leading CSR efforts in ...more
on June 9th, 2010

Great thoughts on mentoring Syamant - I wrote a post titled "8 Lessons I Learned on Being ...more

futurechat