For over 15 years, I worked as a freelance IT consultant, responsible for developing software and database solutions for various federal public services and private companies, including insurance firms.
As part of my work for these public institutions, although the process was sometimes restrictive and slowed down development, whenever we needed a citizen’s personal data for an application, we had to request, justify and obtain authorisation regarding the duration and use of that data from the political authorities - elected by the citizens to represent them and their interests.
Over the years, various independent service providers, regardless of their size, expertise or quality, have been sidelined in favour of a pseudo non-profit organisation created by the state to circumvent tendering procedures, eliminate free competition and avoid VAT obligations.
Today, almost all of the state’s IT services are in the hands of this non-profit organisation, which had a colossal turnover of €341,169,876 in 2019! Not bad for a non-profit organisation.
This organisation manages, STORES (for an indefinite period) and CROSS-REFERENCES all of YOUR data, using a unique identifier: your national registration number. This data is then analysed and used according to what one wants them to say, without any meaningful oversight whatsoever, since at the head of the supervisory body we indirectly find the very same individuals who, with complete bias, fully assume the roles of judge, interested party and police officer!
Analogy:
As a parent, if your child asked you to lend them a large sum of money - let’s say €10,000…
- Would you lend it to them without knowing what it was for?
- Would you accept not knowing when this sum might be repaid to you?
- Would you accept not having any say in what is done with that money?
- Would you accept that this sum might be used to further values that are contrary to your own?
- Would you accept that this sum might be re-lent by your child, without your consent, to other people to be used against your own interests?
This is a slight extrapolation, I admit, deliberately exaggerated, but not as much as you might think:
- Do you think it is possible to cross-reference citizens’ medical data with their tax or banking details, and to award bonuses or impose fines based on this information?
- Do you think it is possible to block access to some of your assets based on certain criteria, such as limiting the maximum amount that can be withdrawn from a cash machine based on medical data?
Today, and for some time now, all of this has already been TECHNICALLY possible, and it takes only a few seconds to execute the queries required for this type of use and obtain the results.
In the future, if we do not take action, all of this will not only be technically possible but also entirely LEGAL, as it will be enshrined in law.
Centralisation - and the centralisation of our data - certainly has its advantages, but taken to extremes it can prove disastrous. We must not overlook the disadvantages, nor downplay the potential for abuse.
Analogy:
- Would you leave your only gold bar lying unguarded on the pavement?
Your personal data and your privacy are your gold bar. - As a responsible parent, would you put all your eggs in one basket?
Nowadays, wealth no longer comes from working, farming, running a business, owning property or raw materials, …
Today, true wealth lies in information and data. By owning the data, you can own everything else!
By disclosing our personal data, we become the product!
Let’s remind our elected representatives of all this, and ensure we limit the abuses that can so easily and quickly occur.
Let us take action to prevent the creation of a breach that could cause the dam to burst and completely overwhelm us, with no possibility of turning back.
I hope that, through this article, I have been able to explain this extremely complex situation and the issues at stake as clearly as possible.
If so, please share this article and take action https://notrebondroit.be/action-traitement-donnees