1 | Hello, world! « privacY losT

8 de February de 2009 to ● 8:24 pm

[...] That is also enough motivation for me to restrict my tweets, delete my MySpace page, and stop participating in public mailing lists with my real name. I have been giving away the information. Like Ken Fischer says Sometimes, a wall in the information age is a good thing. [...]

2 | Sarah Bourne

10 de February de 2009 to ● 5:43 pm

The concept of a “my gov” feature goes back at least as far as 2000. Some states actually implemented them … and then nobody came. People said they wanted them, so why didn’t they use them?

I think you hit on the answer here, and it’s intriguingly tied to another thorny issue we face in government: how to absolutely, positively verify somebody – to protect access to their confidential data – in a reasonable way. Many people, for instance, might only use that login once a year, so demanding frequent password changes doesn’t work so well. And the price tag has proven prohibitive, too.

I think your solution just might work. Perhaps with the current focus on collaboration plus tight budgets, governments at federal, state, and local levels could be convinced to work together on something like this.

3 | Barb Chamberlain

18 de February de 2009 to ● 6:56 pm

This sounds like a fantastic idea overall. If Amazon can suggest books and I can provide feedback to improve their suggestions, I should be able to provide feedback that improves the relevance of events & reports fed to a personalized page. When I go to any agency page and start to search, it could offer me the opportunity to start building my profile to suggest more info in future. If I opt in, away we go.

I would start with the federal government, which has more information to offer than any other, and make it possible to build an interest page. That would expand the usefulness of the googleplex of knowledge and data being developed all the time by public agencies. Offer the ability to increase the relevance of info by tying it to a zip code, so the report from the national parks in my area is what pops out. That’s low-threshold privacy.

I wouldn’t start out trying to tie any personal records such as tax payments. You can provide generic reminders about April 15 without alarming people. Get them used to getting info, then they’ll be more willing to give it down the road.

These are the same concerns being addressed now in the world of electronic medical records and personal health records. If you think your taxes are personal, try your colonoscopy results .

We also address this in higher ed as we create portals that provide access both to “info of interest”–upcoming events tied to your major or department–and your personal records such as grades, financial aid awards, and the fine for those long-overdue books at the library. So the models are out there.

@BarbChamberlain