Will the many “General Data Protection Regulation” profiteers help or stand in the way of a better future for our grandchildren?

Sir, Richard Waters writes that “Europe’s new online privacy regime is a gravy train for lawyers and consultants, and it has kept IT departments and compliance officers working late for months [and] it is likely to take an onslaught…from privacy activists” “Brussels forces online reckoning by setting high bar on privacy” May 25.

That raises a question: Will that mean a better future for my grandchildren, or will it just extract value from what has been developed, making what’s to be developed more distant and expensive?

Waters also writes: “One Silicon Valley figure argues: if users were able to capitalise the future value of personal data like this that they will throw off over a lifetime, it would turn out to be one of their most valuable assets”. I have argued a similat the thing with letters sent to FT… but I have also indicated the possibility that all the web and social media added monetary value, could be used to fund a Universal Basic Income, a sort of Human Heritage Dividend.

Personally, scared of some “Big Brother Is Watching You” joint ventures between data gatherers and goverments coming into fruition, I prefer allowing development to run its full course to see where it takes us. 

Sir, I just do not feel sure enough about taking development limiting decisions on behalf of my grandchildren. Do you? 

https://teawithft.blogspot.se/2015/09/ad-blockers-do-not-allow-any.html

PS. If social media is to be fined, then have all the fines help to fund Universal Basic Income schemes. What we absolutely do not need, is to have social media (ambulance) chasers, redistribution profiteers, like a European Commission, or similar, capturing these.

@PerKurowski

Beware, data, even when in data trusts, can be exploited in very dangerous dumb ways.

Sir, John Thornhill writes: “A country’s ability to exploit data in safe and creative ways will increasingly determine its success. It is high time for institutional innovation to encourage the process...” “Data trusts can stimulate the digital economy” October 30

Indeed but if data is exploited erroneously that can also cause great tragedies.

For example, even though there must exist loads of data on what caused bank failures, the regulators used data about the failures of the borrowers; something which of course c'est pas la même chose.

That explains how they could risk-weigh that rated so safe as AAA, and which could therefore create excessive exposures that could endanger bank systems, with only 20%, while that rated so risky as below BB-, and which bankers do not like to touch with a ten feet pole got 150%.

As a result we got a crisis because banks held too many securities rated AAA and too high exposures to what was also assigned very low risk-weights like sovereigns, like Greece.

As a result millions of not rated SMEs and entrepreneurs, and who were risks weighted 100%, have had their credit applications denied, as banks cannot leverage their equity as much as with other alternatives.

Sir, I suspect that “The EU’s sweeping General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into force in May and will be adopted by Britain also [though it] imposes strict restrictions on data use, will probably not contain any language with respect to dumb data use.

@PerKurowski