Via a post on my colleague, and info law watchdog, Ray Corrigan’s blog – Alas medical confidentiality in the UK, we knew it well… – I note he has some concerns about the way in which the NHS data linkage service may be able to up its game as a result of the creation of … Continue reading “Some Random Noticings About Data Linkage”
A few more bits and pieces around the possible distribution and application of open public data (that is, openly licensed data released by public bodies): Bills before Parliament – Education (Information Sharing) Bill 2013-14: although this is a private member’s bill, explanatory notes have been prepared by prepared by the Department for Education. The bill … Continue reading “The Business of Open Public Data Rolls On…”
A jumbled collection of recent clips and snippets, that feel to me as if they’re pieces of the same jigsaw… An article in The Atlantic on Obscurity: A Better Way to Think About Your Data Than ‘Privacy’: …”privacy” is an over-extended concept. It grabs our attention easily, but is hard to pin down. Sometimes, people … Continue reading “The Loss of Obscurity – A Round-Up of Recent Reports Relating to Privacy and Personal Consumer Data”
A couple of weeks ago, I gave a presentation to the WebScience students at the University of Southampton on the topic of open data, using it as an opportunity to rehearse a view of open data based on the premise that it starts out closed. In much the same way that Darwin’s Theory of Evolution … Continue reading “The Closed Route to Open Data”
Following the official opening of the Open Data Institute (ODI) last week, a flurry of data related announcements this week: A big one for stats fans with the release of 2011 Census data by the ONS: 2011 Census, Key Statistics for Local Authorities in England and Wales. A few charts appear to have made it … Continue reading “This Week in Open and Communications Data Land…”
A Tesco advert I’ve noticed airing again recently shows how data collected around a Tesco Clubcard can be used to prepopulate an online shopping basket using Tesco Direct using just(?) the Clubcard number: (It’s not quite that simple of course. Form a quick look at the Tesco website, you first need to register an account … Continue reading “Personal Data Exploitation – Recent Reports”
Picking up on a post by @nevali (Communications Data) that looks at the layered structure of internet based communications in general and a peek inside an SMTP session in particular, I idly wondered about the structure of a tweet and what, exactly, might count as the communications data part of it, as defined by the … Continue reading “So What Counts as “Communications Data”?”
I’m starting to feel as if I need to do myself a weekly round-up, or newsletter, on open data, if only to keep track of what’s happening and how it’s being represented. Today, for example, the Commons Public Accounts Committee published a report on Implementing the Transparency Agenda. From a data wrangling point of view, … Continue reading “Whither Transparency? This Week in Open Data”
[A story a few days ago (March 2012) brought this post to mind… Here’s the recent story – Walmart buys a Facebook-based calendar app to get a look at customers’ dates: “The Social Calendar app and its file of 110 million birthdays and other events, acquired from Newput Corp., will give Walmart the ability to … Continue reading “Just Because You Don’t Give Your Personal Data to Google Doesn’t Mean They Can’t Acquire It”
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