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There has been outrage in Italy after the outgoing government published every Italian's declared earnings and tax contributions on the internet.The tax authority's website was inundated by people curious to know how much their neighbours, celebrities or sports stars were making. The information was put on the site with no warning for nearly 24 hours.
Critics condemned it as an outrageous breach of privacy.
Would you be outraged or intrigued? Having nothing to hide I suspect I would be on there trying to find out how much friends and colleague's were earning... "You earnt how much?" :-)
Syzygy
your income in 2007 has been x000 EUR. Therefore your quartely tax prepayments have been set to x000. First payment is due on 10th of April. Next payments on 10th of June, 10th of September, 10th of December.
Please note that our bank account information has changed. Make the amounts payable to the following new account.
Best regards,
Your local tax office
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And thats only one of half a dozen scams that come to my mind. The more information about a person you have the easier it is to get to their money.
With all the private information goverments and careless people that "have nothing to hide" throw around it makes me wonder that not more happens. The world today is a paradise for con artists.
It is also amazing how governments handle security issues. Best example was this government official that addressed concerns about the encryption of new biometrical information stored in passports with: We have already addressed this issue and have passed a law that makes the unauthorized access to this information illegal...
Also, how many will now start getting begging letters, and how many will end up without the ability to get credit and support because of outdated information, etc.
The person of government department that sanctioned this release should be dealt with as if they had stolen the individual's privacy. It's madness!
Off with their head! ;)
We have already addressed this issue and have passed a law that makes the unauthorized access to this information illegal...
You owe me a fresh cup of coffee and a new keyboard for that one.
Governments just don't understand the complexity of the issue. Up here, a national magazine paid 20$ to get the phone records, billing info, credit card numbers, address and everything, of the federal privacy commissioner. They actually bought the info from a legitimate source (equivalent to Equifax).
Making laws isn't enough. Sending hackers to jail isn't enough. Governments need to start sending privacy offenders, like whoever released this info in Italy, to jail. And they need to start fining companies that knowingly release insecure products, or fail to address security issues once identified.
I won't post a link because most are run by commercial sites with ads and it's fairly competitive in seo. Search for "søk skattelistene" if you fancy having a go.
Governments need to start sending privacy offenders, like whoever released this info in Italy, to jail
In Italy, it was the government that released the info.
This is manifest in the scorn that is ready for a rich man who spends very little and opposed to the compassion given the poor man who spends just as little. Reread 'A Christmas Carol' to encounter an example of this set of values being taught. The Italian release is little different to the realisation that Bob is in poverty whilst Ebenezer with the power and duty to alleviate that is receiving great riches.
You can do this in Norway easily and for free online (since 2003 if I remember) and there's been very few problems with it.
And in Finland, as well, if I recall correctly. Isn't society much healthier when everyone knows not only who is rich and poor but why they are rich or poor?
