Swedish government departments sell Personal data to businesses - living in glass houses and throwing stones
Monday, 05 August 2013
Swedish Transport Authority earned nearly Skr30 million in the business
of selling personal data of car owners to advertisers, without
permission or knowledge from the data bearers.
According to Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter reporting on the issue which
some officials think is outrageous, it comes on the hills of outrage in
Sweden when it emerged that the US government was collecting personal
data of people and which Sweden also called the USA and said it
must explain the extent to which personal data are collected and
use.
While the US use personals cyber of phone communication data for
security purposes, the Swedish government establishments which collects
data on drivers and other information pass them on for financial
motives. But the question is why are people outrageous about the
report. Why could people not believe that their data was being traded?
Well, it turns out that the Swedish transport Agency is one of several
Swedish authorities that sell personal information to companies that
send out direct mail, writes the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter.
Others include - Companies Registration Office, Swedish Tax authority
and CSN which provide student finance - all engaged in the sale of
personal data.
In recent years, the transport board has earned nearly Skr30 million by
selling personal data every year and the money is said to cover
operating expenses said Dagens Nyheter. What operating expenses the
transport authority needs Skr30 million to cover remains mind bugling.
According to the law governing public authorities, they are
required to disclose such information, but that has not happened
despite systematic records sales to advertising companies - something
Anna Hörnlund, lawyer for the Data Inspectorate told the paper that it
is completely different.
The power of personal data and the money contain in it, within
businesses and the temptation by organisations to sell such data could
be see within the context of the explosion of social media
organisations such as Facebook. Facebook is worth billion what does it
produce? People's personal data and this is used to make targeted
advertisement.
In Sweden, if CSN for example sells data to companies about students
who have been recently granted student funding, his will means that
those companies will target those students who have recently received a
large amount of money from government expected to be spent on
education. They'll start receiving credit card offers, shopping and
even holiday offers something that has nothing to do with their
education. Therefore, if advertisement is as powerful as it is
believed, these students might end up consuming their study fund on
undesirable objects.
by Scancomark.com Tean