[MyData & Open Data] this group's thoughts on definitions

Thu Dec 19 20:55:20 UTC 2013

Stef is right that "we should always make sure that we focus on publicly
financed data or data, that pertains to the functions holding power over
parts of our society".

If would be great if you folks could make an effort to remind EP
President Schulz to commission the study on Rule 103 (on "utmost
transparency") as decided by two consecutive plenary majorities:

https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/greens/efa-press-eps-president-open-source

Thanks for taking time to write him an email.

The conclusion of the study might not be that Rule 103 implies Free
Software, but Open APIs to the internal workings of the EP.

//Erik

Just for inspiration, here's a quote from AG Opinion in Council v Access
Case C-280/11 P

63. 'Legislating' is, by definition, a law-making activity that in a
democratic society can only occur through the use of a procedure that is
public in nature and, in that sense, 'transparent'. Otherwise, it would
not be possible to ascribe to 'law' the virtue of being the expression
of the will of those that must obey it, which is the very foundation of
its legitimacy as an indisputable edict. In a representative democracy,
and this term must apply to the EU, it must be possible for citizens to
find out about the legislative procedure, since if this were not so,
citizens would be unable to hold their representatives politically
accountable, as they must be by virtue of their electoral mandate.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62011CC0280:EN:HTML

On 12/19/2013 09:22 PM, stef wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 03:48:02PM -0400, Song, Stephen wrote:
>> I agree with Stef although perhaps not for precisely the same reasons.
> :)
>
>> Lastly, I think the Gun Map debacle (
>> http://irevolution.net/2013/01/23/perils-of-crisis-mapping/) hints at the
>> needs for a more nuanced approach to privacy that is no longer the binary
>> option of open or closed.
> i do not see causality between one badly applied technology and your
> conclusion. i think this only shows that indeed there is a gap in
> understanding where and how to wield the "open data flag" responsibly. we
> should always make sure that we focus on publicly financed data or data, that
> pertains to the functions holding power over parts of our society. deans,
> politicians, law enforcement, banks, etc, must be transparent. civilians
> demonstrating, being generally victims, getting a pension or healthcare, etc
> must be protected. i believe, if this simple rule would've been applied the
> above might not have caused so much excitement. lastly, i think, this issue is
> of fundamental human rights, and as such i think we should contemplate the
> meaning of the word "fundamental" for a few minutes before we continue into
> "no longer black and white" land. ;)
>

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