Lee & White

• Mobile phone Did you know that our mobile phones are 'anonymously' tracked for a range of services?

For example: the traffic report, which informs you of the total length of traffic jams in your country, calculates such information based on tracking of mobile phones, checking how fast the phones are moving - if at all - from point A to point B.

The mobile phone service providers promise us that the information they gather is anonymized before use.


• Location based services You can now surf from your mobile phone to a service such as Google Maps which calculates your position - possibly using your built in GPS receiver - to inform you of the services that are available in your immediate vicinity.

This of course, requires that your location is sent to the service provider first.

It was recently discovered that some of the new generation smartphones covertly sends important information back to the manufacturer on a daily basis.


• High street store loyalty card (and other credit cards) We are lured into using these cards, because they make us feel pampered by giving us a few small perks which the other customers do not get.

Of course, every time you use the card, the store registers what you buy, how much you buy, where, when and how often you buy.

Using this data, they can, through data mining techniques deduce a lot of information about you and your family: if you respond properly to their campaigns, if and when you deviate from your routine (holidays?), how loyal you are to certain brands, financial information, ...

This information is then, amongst others, used - by the store itself or third parties - for targeted campaigns.

• Mobile Payments So convenient, we do not have to use coins anymore, or card. We can simply sms a message and the amount we want to pay for is automatically charged to our mobile phone bill.

Think a little bit further, and you'll know who will get their hands on the personal data hovering in the chain between you and the receiver of the payment.

The general public fail to see that their personal data is priceless, and what are the consequences for not safeguarding their data. Identity theft has become a rampant crime (it is no longer a matter of "if it happens to you" but "when it happens to you"), and does not take an intelligent hacker to profile a person. The problem lies in the lack of education given to the public about identity theft, and that their personal data is the weapon in this crime. By not protecting our data we are aiding these criminals - can you blame these criminals when your identity is stolen?

The government and the media play an important role in creating awareness in the public on these matters, as well as educating them on the importance of protecting their privacy; how they should do so; and the technologies around that are used to monitor and to gain access to their data. The BBC is to be commended on its new programme calledWho's Watching You? that investigates surveillance in the United Kingdom. Programmes such as these raise awareness that we are being watched, and make us value our privacy and the protection of our personal data for sad to say, our personal data is not so private.

So, the key point here is that the public must be educated on the value of their personal data, and organisations such as the Privacy Commission and the media ought to play an active role. Unfortunately, the current situation in Belgium is such that privacy is the last thing on anyone's mind. Try calling your phone company and find out how it protects the personal data it collects from you. Look at a website and see if there is a privacy statement available - it is after all, the first positive step towards upholding your privacy. You will find very few are concerned about the proper handling of personal data. Nevertheless, hopefully, you will enforce your right and put the necessary pressure on those who handle your personal data to take care of it. It begins with you.