Venyu Blog

Early on in my career I routinally spun the radio dials seeking out the latest news, talk radio debates or sports discussions and team updates. Then one day I discovered radio icon Paul Harvey and was immediately hooked. The late icon, who delivered varied and sundry news of the day nuggets with his distinct, clipped delivery somehow managed the remarkable feat of stopping my surfing long enough to hold my attention, albeit for the requisite five minutes a day of his broadcast. In addition to his regularly scheduled “Paul Harvey News and Comments” show he also hosted a segment he called “The Rest of the Story” where he would share with us the humble origins of some innovator, scientist, ideologue or pop culture figure and how, through a singular fortunate feat of fate they were able to become the individuals we know so well today.

On that note I’d like to revisit my blog of April 9, “You Better Hope You Have Deep Pockets” that shared the news of the UK government’s Data Protection Act which ostensibly fined companies up to half a million pounds (or about $750,000) per event for businesses that break its data privacy provisions. At the time the announced fines were perceived as severe enough to serve “as a financial deterrent for organizations reluctant to invest in their security strategies.”

According to a recent poll undertaken by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) sponsor of the Data Protection Act, that fine of a half million pounds is “not enough.”

Well maybe, maybe not.

Jonathan Bamford, head of strategic liaisons at the ICO and one of the 55 delegates attending something called the “Fine Balance Privacy Event”, which was organized to discuss how privacy can be protected in an increasingly digital society, suggested that the fine “could be too low for large institutions such as banks, but could be perceived as too high for small businesses.”

Bamford further explained that based on ICO data collected in 2009, the public expects technology companies to have a role in protecting their data and are “astonished” that these companies do not foresee the risks and look after them.”

Although Bamford and the ICO have their detractors, and some are called out and quoted in this article, I must say I admire Bamford’s “chutzpah” when, in association with the right of citizens who have their personal information collected who then expect that information to be safeguarded, he offered the following soundbite: “I do not want a situation where we have to use bigger sticks, but by God am I prepared to use them.”

I believe it was Teddy Roosevelt who said it first but I think it applies here: “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick.” And I add, parenthetically, always keep your customers’ information private.

And now you know… the rest of the story.