Privacy Issues Surrounding Databases

This topic is one of an infinite nature once you begin to explore all the instances of privacy piracy. I got more information about how our privacy gets compromised by databases than I could ever have imagined. When I discover the ways that databases or database technologies, can be used and are being used to capture information about us as we go about our daily lives I am in awe that more is not being done to regulate these acts.

When I speak of these acts I am referring to how easily we get tricked into providing information about ourselves to individuals who use it for their own internal purposes or to sell or share it with third parties without our consent. As I read more excerpts of Simson's Database Nation I could not believe that I was not more guarded with my information.

There are certain instances where I questioned the collection of my information e.g. in hospitals, doctor's offices, and other cases where the collection of my personal data might seem more pertinent to my well-being. Yet, I discovered the gross abuse of my personal information even in places where I least expected infringement upon my privacy (e.g. medical records). I was not aware that when I signed consent to release my medical information to what I believed were eligible third parties like the providers of my medical insurance, that other third parties for which I never knowingly would have given consent also have permission to access my medical data. Who knew that the keepers of medical records could sell that information to insurance companies, current and potential employers, and anyone else who could use that information to make critical decisions about individuals.

It is like we do not even own our information any more once we give consent to collect our personal data whether in awareness or ignorance to third parties. When I think of how I use my Visa check cards instead of cash and sign up for discount programs in grocery stores in the quest to be frugal, I feel silly now each time I go to my mailbox and am uninundated in junk mail or solicitations. Then, I think of all my efforts to opt-out of marketing promotions and credit card offers and see them as wasted when there is no way to eliminate each group of individuals responsible for the intricate web of advertising. Who has time to call each company that sells their information to stop doing so or to remove their names from the proverbial list. I even get ads faxed to me now, which is such a gross waste of paper. It angers me to think that not only am I paying the price for someone else's careless mishandling of my information, but also incur costs in terms of paper and other printer supplies not to mention the infinite cost of privacy lost.

The privacy issues surrounding databases are so infinite and coupled with the ever increasing advances in technologies that assist the neglectful transmissions of our personal information that we may never see an end to this problem. At best we can only expect that technology will exacerbate the problem thus allowing it to get worst before it gets better. Who decides on when things get better ultimately is not up to the keepers, seekers, and senders of our information, but up to the us, the victims of database privacy abuses.









References:
Database Nation: The Death of Privacy In The 21st Centruy by Simson Garfinkel
ISBN 0-596-00105-3