Submitted by nabeth.thierry on Tue, 2012-06-19 14:43

Hello,

I have noticed that nobody appears to have mentioned this report from IPTS (the prospective lab of the European Commission).

Here it is:

Pan-European survey of practices, attitudes and policy preferences as regards personal identity data management
Authors: W. Lusoli, M. Bacigalupo, F. Lupiañez, N. Andrade, S. Monteleone, I. Maghiros
[4 June 2012]

http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/TFS/eidsurvey.html

This study presents the results of the largest survey ever conducted in Europe and elsewhere about people’s behaviours, attitudes and regulatory preferences concerning data protection, privacy and electronic identity, both on the Internet and otherwise in their daily lives.

The report draws conclusions in direct relation to four key Digital Agenda areas: Authentication and Identification, e-Commerce, Social Networking Sites, and Medical Information as Personal Data.

The survey was conducted in the 27 Member States of the EU between the 25 November and 17 December 2010. 26,574 Europeans aged 15 and over resident in each EU Member States were interviewed. The methodology used is that of the Standard Eurobarometer.

Highlights

The study finds that personal data disclosure is increasingly prevalent in the European society, largely due to the expansion of the Information Society. In turn, most services provided in the digital economy rest on the assumption that this data and associated electronic identities are collected used and disposed of according to existing legislation. The survey shows very clearly how Digital Europe is shaping up.

...

Group audience:

Security

Comments

?? Do we read the same report

Submitted by Engberg on Wed, 2012-06-20 00:06

?? Do we read the same report.

First of all, I have no idea what you mean "how digital Europe is shaping up"?

Second, what i see shouting on almost every page in the report is the lack of tools to protect oneself online despite a strong sense of no control og no choice but having to provide data.

I don't read about "Digital Europe shaping up", I read about citizens left for themselves in dangerous territory and no options available. Politicians are vasting time on "rights", but without enforcement and no linkage to realworld problems.

Stephan, maybe I wasn't clear

Submitted by nabeth.thierry on Wed, 2012-06-20 00:18

Stephan, maybe I wasn't clear enough?!
This is a reference to a new report from IPTS that appears to be very relevant here (I am not even assessing its value).

What I have posted here is just a copy and past of some content so that people do not have to follow the link so as to they know what is inside this report. Very classical is social media just to relay information.

>> First of all, I have no idea what you mean "how digital Europe is shaping up"?

This is why you have the "...".
Which means, if you are interested and want to know more, lick on the link, and read the document.

"Which means, if you are

Submitted by Engberg on Wed, 2012-06-20 02:05

"Which means, if you are interested and want to know more, lick on the link, and read the document."

Oh, I did do skim the report and read all 8 (!) pages of conclusion assuming from the way, you wrote, that you had too.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I didnt get that you cut from the executive summary as the last sentence was in fact that start of an new paragraph instead of the conclusion.

The report IS interesting as it write for instance

"But online users are also very much aware of risks in transacting online and are naturally concerned. The perception of risk is greater for more mature/active’ users but it does not seem to curb abuse and misuse – such as data loss and identity theft. Providentially, these are still uncommon in Europe. Furthermore, Europeans understand they are not in control – an impressive 30% of all eCommerce users that disclose information believe they have no control on their data."

But I honestly have no idea what they mean, when they write

"They employ a variety of methods, both in the offline and the online world, to protect their identity; however, they tend to understand better how to protect their identity in the offline world (62% use data minimisation techniques) than when in the
online world (about 40% use anti-spam and anti-spy software). Finally, almost all Europeans (90%) favour
equal protection of their data protection rights across the EU, even though a majority feel responsible themselves for the safe handling of their personal data."

I simply do not understand their concept of identity and epecially "identities".

They write in a footnote (section 2.5.2):
"The principle of privacy by design implies that IDM systems should allow for anonymous and pseudonymous interactions in the context of commercial transactions (service providers within the commercial sector do not need to receive clients’ extensive identity information that they currently demand)."

But the report has no other reference to IdM, Privacy by Design or any other tools more advanced then not disclosing data.

I would say the report is well-intended, but rather fumbling as to both the analytical conclusions and action-oriented recommendations.

The focus of this report is

Submitted by nabeth.thierry on Wed, 2012-06-20 16:38

The focus of this report is indeed more on the usages (e.g. anthropological) and less on the technologies.
I believe it is useful to be able to bring in in our reflection the different perspectives, and collect data about what people effectively do and not what they should do if they were purely rational agent or if they do what the technologist expect from them.
Note that humans are not purely rational creatures, are subject to many biases that are exploited by 'manipulators'. No conspiracy theory here ;-), just indicating some of recent "view of the world" by social scientists and economists.

>> I simply do not understand their concept of identity and epecially "identities".

Well, this is maybe because this report is intended for an expert (in social sciences) audience. In the FIDIS NoE we had extensive discussion about the concept of identities (even a philosopher), and the subject is indeed complicated. Maybe more effort should be done to make the work comprehensible to a large audience.
Note: Stephan, I would not exactly classify you as part of the large audience, because you are an expert, but probably more in the domain of identity management systems.

>> I would say the report is well-intended, but rather fumbling as to both the analytical conclusions and action-oriented recommendations.

I guess, this is like futurology and foresight. It's real value is not to be an exact science (futurology objective is not exactly to make good predictions), but to provide 'matter for the thought', stimulation, and elements that can inform our decisions.
For instance conclusions are not to be considered as a end and the ultimate true (and people 'burnt' on the public place in the case they were wrong), but a step in the way we are constructing knowledge.

There is no field with

Submitted by Engberg on Thu, 2012-06-21 01:50

There is no field with anything relevant to say about identity, that haven't got my interest. Nothing is in my view more important than getting this exceptionally complex and multi-facetted area right or at least well.

If we try to construct knowledge, we should at least start with a clear understanding of why and what the purpose and use a consistent terminology trying to establish causality or insight.

Very glad to see that the

Submitted by wainer on Wed, 2012-06-20 15:19

Very glad to see that the report made it here, really unexpected! If I may be of any assistance...

For identity protection, have a look at page 169, questions 15 and 16, this is what the survey asked of people.

In short, what measures people are taking to protect their persona on-line. Here identity is taken in a non technical sense to define a representation of the self. We are asking ordinary people, after all, not experts who would know what -nyms may be, or partial identities.

Just some thoughts.