Personal information has become central to how we live – from
The visible result ofthis is a trend towards personal, tailored services, and with this comes a society dominated by different forms of information gathering. This is not just something people are subjected to. They are more and more willing to give away information in exchange for the conveniences and benefits they get in return, and are often keen for the recognition and sense ofself it affords.
But there is a tension here. By sharing personal information we
surrender control in the longer term by leaving ourselves open to judgement by different groups in different ways. The drive to
personalise or tailor services, which is shaped by those judgements, can lead to differences between what people experience and have access to.This can mean a narrowing ofexperience,can lead to social exclusion, and has significant implications for how we live together as a society.
Such in summary is a report by think-tank Demos. It argues that these problems can only be resolved by a more open understanding of and better democratic debate about the boundaries, rights and responsibilities that regulate the use of
personal information. That debate should focus on developing the collective rules that determine individuals’ ability to negotiate how personal information is used.
Problems of data protection, privacy, technology and identity are
inseparable from the benefits we enjoy from the open information society we live in. There is a hazy distinction between the lifestyle and social benefits that can result from sharing our personal information, and the way information can change how organisations and institutions find out and make decisions about us. Personal information creates a political challenge because it is the basis on which decisions about interventions from institutions are made.
Chapter 1
Being watched,and needing to be seen
Being watched through the exchange of personal information in our everyday lives has become ever more central to our identities, to our experiences of services,and to how we relate to other people.But the Big Brother metaphor cannot fully explain the significance of how personal information is used. This chapter shows why there has been an increased prominence of what we will call ‘interpersonal surveillance’:people watching people. The report argue this opens the potential for more people to be involved in what surveillance is for: judging, sorting and responding to the people and ideas around them.
Chapter 2
The convenience of being known: what organisations and institutions do
Information has become the tool that enables product and service specialisation based on individual wants, needs and aspirations. This chapter explores the assumptions behind the personal ‘offer’ by looking at the practical reality of individually tailored services – first through the private sector,and then through government.It maps the realities of information use, what the consequences are, and outlines people’s ability to influence the decisions made about them.
Chapter 3
We care,but we’re not sure why: attitudes to personal information
The rate of technological change and professional practice can move faster than the public’s awareness. Though people are beginning to understand how their information is used and what the implications are, that understanding is marked by ambiguity. That makes it even more difficult for people to make sense ofthe benefits and dangers of giving away information. In this chapter we will explain why this is, focusing on people’s attitudes and understanding.
Chapter 4
Protecting and promoting: data protection and digital identity management
This chapter looks at the means through which people can try to
manage and control what happens to their personal information.
Empowering people through their personal information has to be just as much about negotiating and managing the way other people ‘see’a person – through their personal information – as it does about securing it. The chapter highlights the tension between individuals’ decisions about rights over personal information,and institutional or organisational rights to use and make decisions on the basis of it. There is a consequent tension between ‘top-down’ solutions to the management ofpersonal information and ‘bottom up’ approaches.
Chapter 5
The new politics of personal information
Rational distinctions between types ofpeople based on their personal information can lead to differences between what those individuals experience and have access to. This can result in a narrowing of experience, can exacerbate social exclusion, and can have significant consequences for how we live together as a society.This is the political battleground of personal information. This chapter explains why the ‘rules of engagement’in personal information need to be more open and democratic, and how to make that happen through policies and approaches from government,organisations and individuals.
The think-tank recommends people themselves must be put at the centre of information flows.
Fndings suggested a number of measures that government, the private sector and individuals could follow to improve the relationship between people, personal information and the institutions that use that information.
