15 Dec 2007

We now don’t trust government with our private details.

Most of us now - post HMRC - don’t trust government to store our private data, says Mori research for Symantec (reported in the ZDNet):

A survey of 1,000 members of the public, which was sponsored by Symantec and conducted by IPSOS Mori, found 62 percent of respondents felt that their personal data being held by government departments was at risk. The survey was conducted in the aftermath of the data breach.

. This adds to the risk of social rejection of systems which may be seen as unnecessarily intrusive and needlessly dangerous. Even if they work, we may not take kindly to the ID System, “Connecting for Health” centralised health records, ITSO-standard travel passes and Oystercards, ContactPoint and eCAF.

Government has a long haul on its hands to win trust back, but these systems are going forwards apace. What will government have to do to regain trust? Maybe

- listen (including to critical friends, and show it is listening properly, and not telling focus groups what to think)
- show some humility
- behave as if you care about evidence and outcomes (and the easiest way is actually to care)
- stop (as Ross Anderson and FIPR have said for years) this CESG-approved “security through obscurity”, approach and start being open and transparent about risks and safety measures
- use privacy impact assessments; implement a principle of maximal anonymity and privacy-enhancing technologies
- go through a period with no cock-ups or data leaks. Ideally this would be a lifetime; failing that an electoral cycle. In reality the very minimum we need is three years, and given the systemic, near-universal cultural problem that’s a lot to ask.

Essentially it’s a good thing for people not to trust government (with private details or with anything else) unless and until government shows it has earned that trust. This is a pain for government and not a welcome message. People don’t like it when you put this to them, indeed they reject it and get cross. But that is, I fear, the way it is. The lesson of the Symantec research is that we’re now at the correct starting point for doing this properly. It just took us a long time to get here because we’re a naive and trusting lot.

Posted by William Heath on 15/12/07 at 3:16pm
Categories · "What do we want?" · Foundation of Trust · Data nitwittery
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15 Dec 2007

We now don’t trust government with our private details.

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15 Dec 2007

We now don’t trust government with our private details.

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