Day #5: Digitalization and who controls our data

I read a piece of news in the Spanish newspaper informing about a fine that has been imposed to a Swedish school in Skellefteå for using facial recognition to control the students attendance. It was a test implemented during three weeks in one classroom, with 22 students who had given their consent to be monitored in such way. However, the school must face a fine of 200 000 kr because this project violates the GDPR. Consent is not enough in this situation, since those who own the data (students) are in a weaker or depending position with respect to those who control them now (the school board).

This situation brings up an interesting and polemic subject: what happens with our data and who controls them. It is not new, I would say that it is extremely recurrent. One of the latest times was when discussing the Russian app FaceApp, which aged our faces in a funny way to post in Instagram. It went viral during the summer, and the debate about privacy arose once more, since our facial information was being shared. 

But it is not just FaceApp, or any other suspicious up. It's everything. We share our data, our personal information everyday. We must accept conditions and grant permits every time we download a new app. In most cases they don't make sense, but that is the price we have to pay, and we pay it. We have become digital, but that has enormous implications for our privacy.

What can we do, if anything? I don't know, and I would like to know. It seems that the lost of privacy is one of the drawbacks of the progressive digitalization of our lives. Legislation such as the aforementioned GDPR certainly helps and it is needed, to protect us, customers. Or products, I should say. Because when we get something for free, it unfortunately means that we, i.e. our data, are the product. 

Image from EUGDPR - Information Portal (eugdpr.org)

Day #3: Those left behind: a digitization problem

I live in a country, Sweden, which is becoming cashless day by day. When I first realised that I could use my credit card to pay pretty much everything, I was shocked. Really? Isn't there a minimum amount? Don't all shops complain about fees due to credit card payment? Apparently not. Not only paying with card is advisable, but also necessary in some places, where cash is no longer accepted. Of course, other digital payment methods such as bank apps are also widely accepted.

This cashless environment is a common feature in societies with a high degree of digitization. However, the reason why I am commenting this is because it is also a good example of how digitization processes may leave some population segments behind. 

From time to time, a new statistic pops up about which year Sweden will become a full cashless society. Some say 2023, although is it really possible that cash will disappear?. And every time there is a small part of the society which feels upset or at least a bit worried. For example old people who are not very familiar with digital services, people with some kind of disability who have it hard to control expenses and use money, families with small kids who don't want to give them the freedom of using a credit card... For most of us, paying with card or app is not a big deal, I actually prefer it. It's easy, safe and fast. But if I stop for a second and think, I can understand other people's concerns. Perhaps it isn't the best idea to make people like my grandmother feel so vulnerable or unprotected by just removing cash from their lives. We all agree, it is easy, safe and fast, but then we should invest in teaching them or making the transition somehow smoother. 

The solution to this problem is not easy, and that is why I think that it is a good example of the dark side of the digitization. How do we deal as a society with the people who are left behind?

As a funny final fact, this article from the news. It talks a bit more about Sweden going cashless and it introduces one coffee place in a neighbourhood in Stockholm which only accepts cash.