I write in response to the letter from Stuart Maurice regarding Opal and privacy (Your View, July 15).
Mr Maurice asks "If you have nothing to hide, why the fear?". That's a good question — here's the answer.
It was trivial to locate Mr Maurice's personal information. He wrote most of it on Facebook for me and the rest I got from Googling him. All of that from nothing more than his name and suburb. Unsettling, isn't it?
My sister's private information was disclosed to her domestically violent ex-partner by Telstra. Every day she wondered if that was the day her ex would turn up and do God knows what to her and her children. Living in fear because some idiot in a call centre didn't care to do their job properly.
Privacy is not something to be dispensed with lightly and certainly not solely to further the interests of third parties (as is the case with Opal).
There can be life threatening consequences from nothing more than bureaucratic incompetence. Are we really going to trust a corporation that cannot even get trains to run on time to safeguard our privacy?
Everyone has information they don't want spread around. Privacy is not a dirty word and everyone should have the right to it. Even those who don't appreciate its value.
name and address supplied
