eclectechNov 28, 2023

That last boost from the @openrightsgroup is a THING for me.

Two days after an emergency C section I was in hospital when an unknown woman appeared at my bedside with a form. She starts taking details & I eventually gather enough wits about me to realise she's asking things she should know, & I ask "hang on, are you not hospital staff?".

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#DataGrabBill #HandsOffOurData #DPDI #DataProtection #privacy #UKPolitics

Show threadeclectechNov 28, 2023

She produces a bag of baby stuff & talks about how they help with the birth registration process blah blah blah & it clicked that is was Bounty.

So I asked where the information was going & who it would be shared with & if she was trying to put my TWO DAY OLD CHILD on a fucking sales database.

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#DataGrabBill #HandsOffOurData #DPDI #DataProtection #privacy #UKPolitics

Show threadeclectech

She mumbled uncomfortably for a while before giving me the bag of goodies ("you can have them anyhow"), an incomplete form & leaving.

You know what saved us from ending up on that database? We hadn't picked a name yet. She couldn't fill in the form without the name. The lull as she thought about what to do gave me time to think.

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#DataGrabBill #HandsOffOurData #DPDI #DataProtection #privacy #UKPolitics

Nov 28, 2023 at 10:50amWeb
Show threadeclectechNov 28, 2023

I love the NHS, & have many reasons to thank them, but letting Bounty into hospital wards with new mothers is a shitty move.

I do not have the words to explain how unprepared I was to have to deal with that.

Very obviously I have enough words to still be furious about it & it was a LONG time ago now.

Anyhow. As you were. Just felt the need to vent for a moment there.

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#DataGrabBill #HandsOffOurData #DPDI #DataProtection #privacy #UKPolitics

Show threadeclectechNov 28, 2023

Just a couple of extra points.

1. Bounty did eventually get fined, a few years after my experience above.

https://www.privacyinternational.org/long-read/4620/how-company-illegally-exploited-data-14-million-mothers-and-babies

2. The reason I was reminded about it is that the UK Government is trying to water down our ability to hold companies like Bounty accountable. The Open Rights Group have a campaign fighting it.

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaign/hands-off-our-data/

#DataGrabBill #HandsOffOurData #DPDI #DataProtection #privacy #UKPolitics

How a company illegally exploited the data of 14 million mothers and babies

Image found here.

Privacy International
Show threadouinneNov 28, 2023
@eclectech this is absolutely appalling on so many levels. New mothers should not have to worry about data protection while lying IN THEIR HOSPITAL BED.
Show threadeclectechNov 28, 2023
@ouinne It is. I like to think I would have spotted what was happening at some point even without the no-name lull, but I'm not sure. I am fairly sure if I'd filled in that form we'd still be unsubscribing from crap from it now.
Show threadDr Ro SmithNov 28, 2023
@eclectech that's so horrific - I'm so furious on your behalf!
Show threadeclectechNov 28, 2023
@Rhube Thank you! It's so grim, while being defended as something helpful.
Show threadMorag PerkinsNov 28, 2023

@eclectech all kinds of wrong! 🤬

I had a friend suggest I should do newborn baby photography in hospitals with them.

Setting aside the fact it is a million miles away from my style of photography or anything I want to do…dear god I can think of about a hundred ethical issues with it right off the top of my head 🤢

Hey! You’re good with a camera! Why not do <wildly exploitative practise to make money>?!

Show threadeclectechNov 28, 2023
@moragperkins Oh my. Yeah, I think you're wise to stay away from that one, for many reasons.
Show threadMaryNov 29, 2023
@eclectech one of my "hero" moments when recounting our birth story to other parents is that, the day after my c-section, I was on a sleepless hormone rollercoaster and ugly-cried so hard at the Bounty lady that she went to get a member of staff, and did not dare try again the next day.
Show threadeclectechNov 29, 2023
@MaryH OMG, well done you but they let her in to you THE DAY AFTER?! Good grief.
Show threadMaryNov 29, 2023
@eclectech I think she came onto the ward with all the dads at 10am. Which is part of why I was such a mess - most dads got kicked out at 8pm, but I was in a side room and Steve didn't leave until nearer midnight, so he didn't come back until about noon.
Show threadeclectechNov 29, 2023
@MaryH Blimey. That first day is so difficult. I still can't get my head round how they just let the Bounty folk in.