Thursday, March 11, 2010

Breaches of data confidentiality can be costly

In a previous post last year I mentioned a particularly nasty and blatant breach of confidentiality regarding fixed line telephony data. The update is that Optus recently won a court case in Federal Court to seek damages against Telstra;


http://www.itnews.com.au/News/168876,optus-wins-telstra-confidentiality-breach-ruling.aspx


This news seemed to slip the major national newspapers, which is quite surprising as it is likely to involve significant amounts of money. To be honest I’m not concerned with the consequences, but as a data miner it does interest me how data *is* used, and how it *could* be used.


As technology advances I’m certain the general public will see more examples of invasions of personal privacy and breaches of data confidentiality that enable organisations to gain the upper hand (unless or until they are caught).  Keep it honest people!