Editorial: Invasion of privacy

One often speaks of private data but as it seems they are not so private.

Personal information to which others should not be privy such as one’s body weight or whether one has a pet end up in the hands of companies which sell it to all and sundry.

It is the fuel of the digital age as The Economist says. It is the Eldorado of the 21st Century that attracts modern gold diggers.

This is the data economy. No economic activity, however, can be allowed to take us back to the Far West.

The ethical issue is that one should not be permitted to trade in our private data without our permission and without our having any financial benefit.

Security is the other issue. It is not difficult to imagine the dangers arising from the dissemination of private information to crooks.

Greece’s competent authorities admit that the existing legal framework of protection does not suffice to shield private data from exploitation.

The giants of the internet and unknown companies, as Ta Nea reports, have no compunction about collaborating to expropriate our private data, comfortably bypassing security measures and firewalls.

A reliable defence against this invasion is not only sorely needed. It is of vital importance.