Context :
Highlights :
The Australian Competition
and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) action in the Federal Court is the latest
litigation Google has faced around the world over allegations of privacy
breaches.
The commission alleges that the California-based company misled
millions of Australians to obtain their consent and expand the scope of personal
information that Google collects about users’ internet activity to target
advertising.
The allegations arise from Google’s move in 2016 to start combining,
Ø
users’
personal information in their Google accounts with
Ø
information from the same users’ activity on
non-Google sites
that used Google technology,...
Ø
The Competition and Markets Authority have taken aim at the U.S. tech
giants in a report that recommends the
British government adopt a new
regulatory approach
to governing big digital platforms making money from online ads.
=====================================================
Why are governments targeting
Google ( alone ? ) for privacy breaches , when thousands of other websites are
guilty of the same crime ?
Answer is simple :
Ø Among
all the other websites, Google is the biggest and richest of these violators (
meaning, Google makes far more money from its “ Targeted Online Advt “ business,
using USER’s PERSONAL DATA , than any other website )
Ø It
has the widest reach , in most countries ( except China )
Ø It
has largest number of users worldwide
Ø It
“ powers “ thousands of mobile apps – in return, gathering personal data of millions
of people who use these apps
Ø It
enables internet-users to avoid submitting their PERSONAL DATA again and again,
to thousands of websites by just clicking, “ Log me in with Google “- a great convenience (
no need to remember thousands of passwords )
Ø Its
Android Operating System powers ( perhaps ) 70 % of mobile phones worldwide
=========================================================
The right question to be asked by Regulators / Consumer
Protection Bodies around the world, is NOT
Ø While
registering on Google, did users “ clearly / explicitly understand “ what all
Personal Data about themselves, are they granting permission to Google to
collect for those targeted advertisements AND for selling ( may be, bartering )
to other businesses ?
Right questions to be asked (of
ourselves ), should be :
Ø How
soon can we put in place a “ NEW REGULATORY APPROACH to governing big
digital platforms making money from online ads “ ?
Ø How
can such a NEW REGULATORY APPROACH ensure :
# No Indian User ever need to REGISTER on any such
website
# All Indian Users to provide their PERSONAL
DATA ( by registering ) on only ONE
government owned / controlled website ( say, ww.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in “)
# All other websites to enable their use to
Indians by clicking ,
Log me in with ww.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in
# All other websites can “ buy “ from ww.IndiaDataCustodian.gov.in , aggregated /
anonymized PERSONAL DATA of 500 million users
( target demographic data )
# Sale-proceeds to be distributed among Indian
Citizen whose data got “ sold “ , in
each
such online PURCHASE TRANSACTION of Personal Data by any BUYER ( no
revelation
of Name / Contact Information of any user – only anonymized )
=========================================================
I have elaborated on the mechanism of such a New
Regulatory Approach in my following email to the Cabinet Ministers :
SARAL …………………………………………………………………………………………[ 10 Feb
2019
]
As to WHAT personal data ( of users ) can be MONETIZED
through such a New Regulatory Approach, consider the following LEVELS ,
described in my mail :
Only
Answer : a Statutory Warning ……………………………………………….[
10 Nov 2018 ]
# Data Level 1 ……………… Personal
Data ✔
# Data Level 2 ……………… Family Data ✔
# Data Level 3 ……………… Contact
Info ✔
# Data Level 4 ……………… Social
Media Data ( websites-portals-apps etc ) ✔
# Data Level 5 ………………. Cultural
Exposure Data ✔
# Data Level 6 ………………. Education Qualifications
Data ✔
# Data Level 7 ………………. Languages
Knowledge Data ✔
# Data Level 8 ………………. Job Experience Data ✔
# Data Level 9 ……………… Wealth
– Income Data [ from Tax Returns ] ✔
# Data Level 10 ……………….
Medical History Data ✔
========================================================
Related Explanatory E-Mails sent in past :
Digital
Dividend from Demographic Data ………………………………………….[ 14 Feb 2019 ]
Privacy
For Sale ………………………………………………………………………………….[ 26 Aug 2017 ]
=========================================================
CAUTION :
From following news-report, it would appear that, before long,
Google may manage to collect all of your Personal Data, WITHOUT requiring you
to REGISTER on its website and / or asking your permission ( even, indirect !
)
That lends urgency to implement my suggestion as soon as we can
Extract :
Search engine giant Google is reportedly working on "smart
tattoos" that which will be embedded with sensors and turn the human body into
touchpads.
The idea is
part of a wearable project from Google Research called "SkinMarks".
Google has provided funding to a group of researchers from
Germany's Saarland University to develop the technology.
" This
paper presents SkinMarks, an enabling technology for interaction on body
landmarks.
SkinMarks are highly conformal interactive tattoos, which enable precisely localised
input and output on five types of body landmarks", a white paper recently published by
Saarland University noted.
======================================================
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com /
28 July 2020
