“I have nothing to hide, do I ...”

The terrorist attacks of the past few years have left their traces. But what is safe and what is unsafe? Telephone and Internet providers are obliged to retain their customers' data for at least 6 months. This concerns, among other data, e-mail data, phone numbers, and location and time of calls. The Government has now submitted a proposal to extend this period to 18 months. You might think that this does not matter at all: 'I have nothing to hide anyway.'

Most of us will not even realise this, let alone, base their choice for a provider on it. Even so, it is a topic of discussion: does security require this or is it an unnecessary breach of privacy?

Who knows what future will have in store for us: data that seem unimportant now may become important in the future. Circumstances may change. Even now, it is hard to keep up with the information that is stored about you, where it is stored and how it is used. Think, for example, of networks such as Hyves and Facebook, where millions of people publish their photos and weblogs.

What starts as a nice presentation for your friends may give a specific impression on employers or clients. In addition, data are increasingly combined and exchanged.

Will our TomTom automatically send us to the right restaurant in the future, based on the search engine's memory?

See also:  Weblog XS4all (Article Corien Prins 'Privacyfeestje'),  Webwereld (opinion by Google),  Tweakers.net (privacywerkgroep EU)  and  European Directive  (which includes a maximum of 18 months).

EJL

publicatiedatum: Wednesday, April 23, 2008