Price of 6,000,000 German Identities? 850 Euros

Ars Technica reported last week that a whistleblower turned over to the Interior Ministry the identities of 17,000 Germans that his employer had obtained. The Interior Ministry took him seriously and opened an investigation that resulted in their obtaining 6 million German identities for the equivalent of $1,220.

Cheap as chips, people, and alarming to the government -- so much so that Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble has vowed to introduce an opt in law that forbids companies from selling data unless they have the consumer's permission.

Here's an excerpt from ARS Technica:

Schäuble blasted those who profit from mining customer data, and vowed to introduce "opt-in" legislation that would only allow companies to share the information of consumers who had specifically agreed to it. Current German law offers an opt-out solution, where companies may not share the data of those consumers who specifically object to it. Schäuble also mentioned the possibility of requiring German telephone sales callers to disclose exactly how and where they obtained a given person's number.

Now, the EU is always tougher about these things than the US, but it is yet another instance of increasing consumer concern about the whole opt out system that allows firms to sell your info unless you specifically tell them not to.

I tell you, I never thought the world would move to opt in, but lately I am thinking there is a chance. Well, I think the chances are reasonable in the EU and low in the US, but every day that passes makes me reassess those chances upward.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.