Data Privacy
When Parliament returns from its unexpected recess it plans to pass a new data privacy bill. To date, we don’t have any laws here in Shalampax concerning the protection of the privacy of data collected by businesses. And Shalampaxian companies have been, to say the least, quite lax in this regard.
Once this bill is passed, the following will be mandatory:
- Companies will have to inform everyone of what information they are collecting about them.
- Companies will be required to allow people to opt out of the data collection process.
- People will have a right to demand to see what information companies have on them and to demand that the companies correct any inaccuracies immediately.
- Companies will not be allowed to sell or share information without the individual’s express permission.
Of course, for reasons of pragmatism, there will have to be a few exceptions.
Any company that can demonstrate to the government that it will be able to make a profit from the information will be allowed to collect all the data it wants, any way it wants to collect it, and with or without an individual’s knowledge or permission. Companies that hold profitable information or information that can be used to earn a profit can share or sell it as the companies please, without first getting permission.
Without these exemptions, the bill was considered to be too much of an impediment in the way of companies’ profitability. However, even with these exemptions, the law still has teeth. If the information can’t be used to earn a profit companies will have to adhere to the restrictions of the new law.
Penalties have not yet been set, but it is expected that companies that break this law will have to issue an apology. Fines and jail terms are not being considered as they are seen as too harsh for this type of crime.
Hmm, this law seems to me to be pointless.. as the clauses about profitability basically remove all restrictions. And aren’t 100% of companies going to use private data for profit in some way? That being the reason they want our data in the first place, to aid them in their marketing which leads to higher profits.
Seems like a joke to me^^ Like a speed limit law with a clause ‘Except when the driver feels he/she is in a hurry to reach their destination’
I’d like to get a cut of the profits companies make using my information. After all, if I didn’t provide it – either willingly or unknowingly – they wouldn’t make a profit in the first place.
@keith: I’m guessing you haven’t spent much time studying Shalampax and Shalampaxians. Pointless is what we do best. Actually, it’s pretty much the only thing we do.
@nonamedufus: I’m surprised. I know you’ve been following us for a while now. A cut of the profits from a Shalampaxian company that is under no obligation to cut you in. What do you think are the chances of that happening? I’ll tell you. The probability can be expressed accurately with a single digit. And it has a zero in it.