This week we've heard about another privacy breach. 

We don't tell strangers on the street everything about ourselves but for some reason, when a business does it online, who we also don't know or trust, you just cannot shut us up. 

Name and address? Sure.

Phone number? Why not. 

Signature? Fill ya boots. 

Don't even get me started credit cards and debit cards. 

I was talking to tech expert this week on the show. What he said has been playing on my mind for two reasons. 

1. We've lost trust and faith in companies to manage our data now, I reckon. Trust is dead, and it's very hard to earn back. And nothing's sacred - we know that after the health hack. In Finland, a psychologist's notes were hacked so patients had all their secrets out there for ransom online. 

2. The penalties for businesses leaving the backdoor open for scammers is very low - the maximum fine is apparently just $10,000. So if a business gets your data stolen and then doesn't tell you, the maximum fine is $10,000. The Privacy Commissioner can also get involved and award compensation of up to $350k, but that's for a serious breach which causes serious harm. Whatever that means. 

But I reckon they should make the fine so massive, so enormous, so crippling, that businesses just stop asking for all your information.

Let it all be anonymous. Assign people a number. You don't need all the information you collect, so just don't.  

If the fines don't deter the behaviour and behaviour doesn't stop, trust will further erode and nobody will be handing over their data anyway. 

The internet's just one big funnel collecting and spitting your privacy. 

Now, I don't mean to just pick on the businesses here, of course the scammers are the real jerks, but they're too hard to chase down. 

Although I note this morning that China executed 11 scammers from Myanmar, which even though I'm against it, may put people off doing it more than a fine? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.