4. Confidential data as a citizen

Outside the workplace, we can interact with the rest of society over the internet. And part of that interaction often involves providing personal data that the recipient should keep confidential.

Not all data supplied to one organisation just stays with that organisation.

For example, financial institutions, such as banks, credit card companies and building societies keep detailed records of our transactions. They keep records of loans taken out and re-payment history. Most of this data is kept secure and confidential so only authorised personnel have access to it. However, some details are allowed to be shared with credit rating agencies to form a 'pool' of your financial history (this is usually stated in the fine print of the terms and conditions you have to sign when opening an account or card)..

When you next want to take out a loan, or apply for a credit card, the finance company is likely to access this record in order to assess credit worthiness.

You can apply to the credit rating agency to look at any records they may have on you, and have them corrected if they prove inaccurate. e.g. Experian is a large credit rating agency. Use the search below to see what companies such as these offer

Your personal data is worth money

If you are over 18 and wish to vote in general and local elections then your name and address needs to be recorded in the local electoral register, stored at the local council office. However, unless you opt-out, this data can be sold to commercial organisations. These firms then provide a 'people-search' service for a fee, or they sell the data on, for marketing purposes. It is up to you to decide whether your record is to be kept away from commercial operators.

Giving away personal information on mobile and social networks

Social networks are now incredibly popular. But caution should be applied. Most have very detailed privacy controls to limit who can see what, but unless an effort is made to learn how to use those controls (many do not bother) then the default setting is not as strong as it could be. There are many stories where someone complains about their boss or company on their social page, only for it to come to their employers' attention, leading to losing their job or disciplinary action.

There are stories where someone posts 'fun' party pictures of themselves to entertain their friends at the time. Then years later it causes embarrassment in their new job.

People do have different attitudes towards personal privacy, for example one person may not be bothered if certain social network apps request access to their friends' photos and birthdays. To some it is not an issue whilst others think this would be a breach of trust of their friends' personal data. Think of it this way - if a stranger knocked on your door and asked if they can have a list of your friends, a photo of each one and by the way - their birthday as well - are you likely to hand it over? And yet if an app asks for the same information many just say yes.

Some countries, such as France, are now considering creating 'Right-To-Forget' laws to give people the right for old records to be deleted from social networks and for mobile firms to delete old text and emails if requested to do so.

Knowing what information is being stored

We all leave behind a digital signature trail of our online activities. For example, tracking cookies and advertising scripts can share our site visit details with any number of other affiliated companies. Unless you are an expert, using the appropriate software, you will not even realise that this information is being gathered and shared for commercial purposes.

Effective from 26 May 2012 the EU cookie law requires websites to gain permission from users, before planting cookies. By the way, this site (teach-ict.com) does not use cookies.

Government and Local Council access to citizen information

Governments have an obligation to keep their citizens safe and to fight crime. To deal with this the 'Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act' (RIPA) was enacted in 2000. This act deals with how government organisations, such as the police, are allowed to intercept emails and other communications (such as mobile phone). We have a news section on privacy here giving examples.

At present (2012) a voluntary code already requires broadband ISPs to maintain a basic log of their customers email and website accesses, but not their contents for up to a year.

By comparison the new plan being considered by the Government could expand its cover to include social networking sites (Facebook etc.), online role-playing games (World of Warcraft etc.) and even Instant Messaging (Twitter, MSN etc.), but this is still undecided. This just reflects just how complicated our online life has become.