Skip to main content

The fourth century of the data guardian: this has changed the AEPD

The fourth century of the data guardian: this has changed the AEPD


October 1993.Bill Clinton has recently been elected president in the United States.Checoslovaquia has ceased to exist and the Medellin cartel terrorizes Colombia, while Pablo Escobar counts his last days.In the Spanish covers the future of Europe and democracy.There was talk of reforming the labor market and a new abortion law that would never be approved.Discussions resembled those of today, but a revolution was beginning to cook .

Related

The Internet was then something unknown to most of the population.In our country, there was a whopping 10,000 machines connected to the network (according to Red Iris data ).There were 10,000 web pages in the world.Mobile phones would be a luxury from the following year (1994); smartphones , still science fiction.Most of the inhabitants of the planet had not yet begun to leave the trail of data that haunts us today.And yet, that October of 1993 was born the Spanish Agency for Data Protection as a premonition of what was to come.


everything we've changed


The figures speak for themselves.But there is no need to go so far back.Only a decade ago, only one in two homes had internet in Spain.And less than one in three people used the network.At the beginning of the century XXI there was a computer for every three homes.Social networks were somewhat foreign to most (Facebook was born in 2004).Today, every home has more than six devices connected to the Internet.92% of citizens have a smartphone .And 85% use some kind of social network, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).


Data to illustrate the digital revolution there is to look where you look.And it is precisely the data, the ones that have been the most debated in recent years."Today we live in a digital society in which, with great ease and low cost, are stored, exchanged, analyzed, and used for multiple purposes, large volumes of information about people's lives.Internet activity has experienced an intense process of concentration in which the model of Most service providers 'business is based on the monetization of users' personal information, "says Mar Espana Marti, president of the AEPD, in the book '25 years of the AEPD: accompanying the citizen in his digital transformation.


Thus, today we enjoy a wide range of free services that are financed with personalized advertising.Its power is in the analysis of the daily habits of users to develop profiles on their interests.In ensuring respect for privacy is the The key to the digital world and user confidence.According to the National Observatory for Telecommunications and the Information Society (ONTSI), 85% of Spanish people trust the network, and 75% believe that the Internet will It makes life easier and saves you time.


The fourth century of the data guardian: this has changed the AEPD


and data protection has changed


«This revolution has meant that the Agency has gone from managing dozens of complaints related, fundamentally, to improper inclusion in delinquent files and unwanted advertising by companies in the national sphere, to guarantee the protection of data personnel regarding multinational companies whose services affect more than 4,000 million Internet users, "explains Mar Espana Marti.


Almost no one had heard about the internet in the early 1990s.A decade later, the outlook had changed a lot.In 1999, Organic Law 15/1999 on the Protection of Personal Data was passed, in force until the recent entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.Then, more than 60 people were already working in the AEPD watching over the rights of an incipient connected population.


The legal reforms and the awareness of the population also caused, according to the AEPD, an increase in complaints, complaints and consultations.In 1994, 81 claims were processed for data breach People.While in 2017 there were 10,500.In the year 2000 there were 19,262 inquiries by citizens and businesses.17 years later there were more than 85,000, with peaks such as the year 2011 (134,000 queries).


The fourth century of the data guardian: this has changed the AEPD


great sanctions and a European regulation


To talk about data protection today is to talk about the two internet giants: Google and Facebook.For the past few years, the AEPD has focused on them.In 2013, the agency sanctioned Google for three violations of the LOPD in relation to the modification of its privacy policy.The company had to adapt to the law immediately and pay a fine of 900,000 euros.


Another similar case is that of Facebook.In 2017, the agency proved that Facebook collected data on ideology, sex, religious beliefs, personal tastes or navigation without clearly informing about the use and purpose that I was going to give them, nor of the data I collected.The penalty, in this case, was just over 1.2 million euros.



In the last five years, the debate on data protection has taken up all political agendas.The right to be forgotten, the need to protect privacy to achieve a more fair big data and The fight against information theft has become quite recurring topics of conversation.Looking to give you an answer, since last May 25, a unique data protection regulation prevails in Europe.It is the RGPD or GDPR, for its acronym in English.During the last year, a good part of the efforts of the AEPD have been destined to ensure the application and compliance with these new regulations.


In fact, the agency has just launched a search engine so that citizens can consult the registry of data protection delegates (DPD).That is, a repository that includes a list of contacts of those responsible for data processing of about 20,000 entities, a number that will be updated gradually.The figure of the delegate is key to the proper functioning of the GDPR.


The polemic of the last hour


The adaptation of the European regulation to the Spanish legislation has not been exempt from controversy either .The new data protection law, which has just been approved, provides that political parties can use personal data of almost any source without the need for prior consent during the election campaign.An added last minute is still to be seen if he receives the approval of the European Union (the explicit consent of the person is one of the GDPR keys).


Fourth century of the Spanish Agency for Data Protection.More or less the same years as the information society.Although the pace of events may seem dizzying, the digitalization is still in honeycombs and there are many changes to come.In the coming years we will see the true power of big data, we will experience the rise of artificial intelligence and verify that more and more things are connected to the internet.The mission of the AEPD has only just begun.

Images | AEPD, Pixabay

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Internet of plants: a tomato knows as much about networks as you

The possibility of plant species communicating through complex networks, what some scientists have called the internet of plants , is an issue that has been discussed for a long time, at least 20 years.It was in 1997 when the scientist Suzanne Simard , from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (Canada), published a study in the journal Nature on how Forest plants use complex systems where species exchange nutrients, send warning signals and relate to the environment. Although there is no scientific consensus, several investigations seem to support this hypothesis.If confirmed, as we read in a fascinating report by the Sinc Agency, the forests would act as huge structures that are articulated under the soil through a network in which factors invisible to the human eye interact and can determine the future of the climate.Understanding how it works is the challenge that even science faces. internet of plants and the wisdom of forests The premise of Suzanne Simard ...

New setbacks for conspiranoicos: radiofrequencies do not affect health

New evidence published by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency and Health (CCARS) in its 2016 Radio Frequency and Health Report indicates that there are no adverse health effects derived of exposure to radio frequencies emitted by mobile phone antennas or radio and television broadcasting.No evidence has been found on the danger in wireless systems (Wi-Fi) or airport scanners. The new 2016 Radio Frequency and Health Report collects, updates and analyzes the scientific evidence on the subject for the period between January 2013 and June 2016. radio frequencies are not dangerous According to the conclusions of the report " the critical analysis of the evidence supports that there are no technical or sanitary reasons that justify the arbitrary and discretionary imposition of more demanding exposure limits than those recommended by WHO-ICNIRP and the Union European ", while the application of more restrictive limits" would imply increasing the n...

GIF history: where they come from and where they are going

Funny, witty, curious... GIFs have already become a regular resource in social networks and messaging applications and have become part of our daily lives and jokes.It is an image format that has evolved significantly throughout its history and is experiencing a new awakening. In fact, to find its origins, we must go back more than twenty years ago .A moment in which they had little to do with what we know today and an evolution that we could not stop review.So let's find out where they come from and try to catch a glimpse of where they are going. What is a GIF The word GIF responds to the acronym of Graphics Interchange Format , or what is the same, graphic exchange format.A term for the graphic format used in the network for both static images and animations.In more concrete terms, it supports 8 bits per pixel and allows you to display images with up to 256 colors simultaneously-limited by a palette of 16 million-. This particularity makes it a perfect ally of infogr...

Amazon Prime Video arrives in Spain: this is all you need to know

That during the last years there has been a change in the way we enjoy audiovisual content is an obvious reality, as reflected by the huge popularity of streaming services like Netflix and the like.A context in which new competitors are constantly added and that, after the landing of this company in our country just over a year ago, is in full transformation. In fact, today we have learned of the incursion of a new protagonist in this area.Yes, because Amazon Prime Video has just arrived in Spain .A landing that takes place only two weeks away that of HBO, which culminates in a 2016 sown of changes.But, what exactly does it consist of? What advantages and disadvantages does it have compared to the "of its kind"? WHAT AMAZON PRIME VIDEO OFFERS The type, quality and quantity of movies and series offered by the service will be key when determining your success.A catalog a priori smaller than that of HBO and Netflix, but in which we find titles like Seinfield , Into...

What we know and what we suspect in the new Facebook algorithm change

"In my time, we read the newspaper in Facebook ".By 2020, nostalgia has taken over billions of people.In its memory, 2018, when Facebook stopped being Facebook to become Facebook again.Paraiso of engagement for brands and media, land paid for clickbaits and fake news, the social network of Mark Zuckerberg has given a rudder to his algorithm. He wants to return to his origins .And this is what will happen. Related If something goes well, to change it.40.653 million dollars entered in 2017.More than 2.100 million active users per month, a quarter of the world's population.But Zuckerberg is not one of those, of which they are.Want a Facebook with more social connections between people and less presence of brands and media .And what do your users want? Nearly two-thirds of American adults consume news on social networks.More than half do so on their Facebook walls.Pew Research Center data points to a clear trend: Facebook is becoming a media platform.54% of Facebook u...

No kidding: selfitis exists and can be a problem

Sometimes one thinks that social networks were created to share photos of faces putting on little bones and images of dishes overflowing with appetizing foods or, better, of faces putting little bones in front of plates overflowing with appetizing foods in the same shot.is to see faces, faces, faces...all of them smiling, as if looking at the smartphone mirror was the height of happiness.And it does not seem that there are so many beautiful and happy people, or maybe yes, that you go Namely.What envy. Well, what we're going to do: Janarthanan Balakrishnan psychologists from the Thiagarajar School of Management in India; and Mark D.Griffiths, of the Nottingham Trent University, in the United Kingdom, have published an article in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction entitled 'A study on' Selfitis', which names this mania of going around the world taking pictures of oneself, as if beyond our curls the world had been destroyed by that meteorite th...

Twitter shows the best of ourselves (it wasn't always going to be the worst)

In the era of social networks, accustomed to interact daily with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google or WhatsApp, we forget that these tools are phenomenal in the History of Humanity capable of mobilize hundreds of thousands of people in very different geographical locations in a matter of hours or even minutes. Already in the past, Twitter has asserted its more social dimension to mobilize people, companies or organizations and also, from a broader perspective, feelings of solidarity and support or also of rejection and repulses towards causes with an important mediatic impact.Recently, Twitter was once again the engine of solidarity after Dortmund's explosions as the Borussia Dortmund team bus passed on its way to the local stadium on the occasion of the Champions League match between the Borussia and the Monaco. These explosions did not have the devastating effect that they could have caused , so that everything remained in a major social commotion at international lev...

Most apps for children violate your privacy

Do you know if apps with which children enjoy their safety? A team of researchers from the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) of the University of Berkeley has studied compliance with the Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in these mobile applications for the little ones, through a scalable dynamic analysis that allows the automatic evaluation of privacy behaviors of Android apps. After studying 5,855 applications aimed at children, the research concludes that most of these apps, 57%, violate the privacy of their users mainly due to the use of data by third parties. apps for children and privacy Although many apps offer options in their configuration to respect the federal law that protects minors in the United States, by disabling tracking, their results suggest that a majority of applications either do not use these options or propagate them in wrong way. In addition, researchers believe that 19% of apps for children send user IDs to third parties to show ...

Are social networks damaging democracy?

The revelations according to which Russian agents inserted ads on Facebook that tried to influence the 2016 US elections raise a disturbing question: is Facebook bad for democracy? As an expert in the social and political repercussions of technology, I think that the problem is not exclusively from Facebook, but that it is much broader: Social networks are weakening some of the conditions that have historically enabled the existence of national states democratic. I understand that it is a dramatic statement, and I do not expect anyone to believe it immediately, but considering that almost half of all potential voters received false news promoted by the Russians in Facebook is an argument that must be debated. Associate Professor of Philosophy, Director of Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, University of North Carolina-Charlotte How we create a shared reality Let's start with two concepts: the "imagined community" and the "bubble filter". ...

This is how visual challenges star in some of the most viral content

Constantly, we all receive in our mail, our WhatsApp or our Facebook account, games that try to test our ingenuity, imagination or visual skill.There are a thousand types, more fun or darker.But they have one thing in common: we cannot avoid trying them and see if we are able to solve them .This is how the visual challenges star in some of the most viral content of the network. Visual challenges, why are we crazy? The visual challenges are games.So, they attend to this playful and fun part that people have no choice but to feed from time to time.They are pure and hard entertainment, with no more pretensions, and that desire to Having fun represents one of the main features that are sought when surfing the Internet . Another of the qualities for which they succeed is because they challenge the mind directly.Human beings love that feeling of feeling a little troubled, somewhat lost, but convinced that there is a solution to that enigma to which, sooner or later, it will come.Rathe...