Simon Davies, the founder of Privacy International is speaking in Dublin on Monday.

I hope to go along and see what they’re saying.

Personally, I am very concerned about privacy and information security, but I think it is also important to balance the needs of the public good with personal privacy. For example, greater control of use of the roads network, using electronic numberplates, GPS, mobile networks and so forth is inevitable, because of the problems of congestion and road safety. On the other hand, I recognise that this could result in a dangerous concentration of personal data about people’s movements, and this has to be monitored and controlled.

According to the blurb:

Simon Davies “Giving guns to psychopaths. Why e-government will bring an end to privacy”

On Monday, 11 October 2004, at 8 pm, Joly Lecture Theatre, Hamilton Building,
Trinity College Dublin.

All are welcome to attend; please pass this invitation on to any colleagues who
may be interested.

Simon Davies has worked for almost twenty years as a privacy advocate and
specialist in IT, consumer rights and data protection and is widely regarded as
one of the world’s leading privacy advocates. He is founder and director of the
civil rights watchdog organisation Privacy International
(http://www.privacyinternational.org/); he has been a consultant adviser to
numerous governmental, professional and corporate bodies; and he has an
extensive publication record on privacy and technology matters. He will be in
Ireland to work with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties at the launch of its
Privacy Audit – an examination of the current protection of privacy in Ireland
in light of modern international standards.