The current lockdown has highlighted a number of IT and privacy issues. These will be affecting organisations, and in some cases individuals. I'm guessing that the more clued up organisations will have protocols to control data, and keep it private and secure.
Other organisations may now be adopting less private, or less secure methods simply in order to get things done.
I have noted a few over the last month or two, but one which I was asked to solve has come to hit me today.
Someone is running a mailing list for a society with around 150 members. It is desired to send out newsletters and information. The society is run by private volunteers, who use their own computers. There is an Excel data base with member details - most of which are irrelevant for the particular task - the only thing which is important right now is the list of email ids. Let us assume that the requirements of the GDPR are met, and that there is a Data Controller, so at least part of the compliance regime is being handled correctly.
The original Excel spreadsheet was on Windows based PCs. With considerable effort a file containing only the emails has been generated. What is now required is to send out the newsletter to the people with those emails - but the person who is the volunteer to do the newsletter has an Apple Macbook.
Apple - in its usual near infinite wisdom - seems only to allow a bulk import of new email ids into one address book. It doesn't seem possible to import new email ids into a sub group, or a new group. It is possible to set up a new group, but only if all the email contacts are imported into the address book. This is highly undesirable - all of those ids should be kept separate from contacts which are personal to the volunteer, and preferably in completely separate computer user accounts.
OK - so we had another idea. Set up a new account on the computer, with (hopefully) a new address book. This is where it gets stuffed. After a while, and security setting up, and codes sent from Apple, a new account is set up specifically for the external organisation. Now open the Contacts - (address book) - phew - it's empty - so now we can import from the file with the emails on. Agggggghhhhhhhh - wait - now **** Apple has connected the new account with the old one, so started populating the Contacts book with email ids from the volunteer user. Absolutely not what was wanted.
Now wondering whether it would actually be easier to use Linux, and just use basic mail, which IIRC can work with a text file containing all the email ids, and give up on Apple altogether for this purpose. That would only - I think and hope - require that the email list file be kept secure and private, which would be relatively simple.
This "feature" of so-called "easy to use" Apple software is really poor.
I'd now have to show the volunteer how to use enough Linux to be able to transfer the required documents to that machine (probably the same machine, running Linux) and then to do the mass mailout in that system. This is just making things more complicated ... ah well.
Maybe pigeons would be the answer.
Other organisations may now be adopting less private, or less secure methods simply in order to get things done.
I have noted a few over the last month or two, but one which I was asked to solve has come to hit me today.
Someone is running a mailing list for a society with around 150 members. It is desired to send out newsletters and information. The society is run by private volunteers, who use their own computers. There is an Excel data base with member details - most of which are irrelevant for the particular task - the only thing which is important right now is the list of email ids. Let us assume that the requirements of the GDPR are met, and that there is a Data Controller, so at least part of the compliance regime is being handled correctly.
The original Excel spreadsheet was on Windows based PCs. With considerable effort a file containing only the emails has been generated. What is now required is to send out the newsletter to the people with those emails - but the person who is the volunteer to do the newsletter has an Apple Macbook.
Apple - in its usual near infinite wisdom - seems only to allow a bulk import of new email ids into one address book. It doesn't seem possible to import new email ids into a sub group, or a new group. It is possible to set up a new group, but only if all the email contacts are imported into the address book. This is highly undesirable - all of those ids should be kept separate from contacts which are personal to the volunteer, and preferably in completely separate computer user accounts.
OK - so we had another idea. Set up a new account on the computer, with (hopefully) a new address book. This is where it gets stuffed. After a while, and security setting up, and codes sent from Apple, a new account is set up specifically for the external organisation. Now open the Contacts - (address book) - phew - it's empty - so now we can import from the file with the emails on. Agggggghhhhhhhh - wait - now **** Apple has connected the new account with the old one, so started populating the Contacts book with email ids from the volunteer user. Absolutely not what was wanted.
Now wondering whether it would actually be easier to use Linux, and just use basic mail, which IIRC can work with a text file containing all the email ids, and give up on Apple altogether for this purpose. That would only - I think and hope - require that the email list file be kept secure and private, which would be relatively simple.
This "feature" of so-called "easy to use" Apple software is really poor.
I'd now have to show the volunteer how to use enough Linux to be able to transfer the required documents to that machine (probably the same machine, running Linux) and then to do the mass mailout in that system. This is just making things more complicated ... ah well.
Maybe pigeons would be the answer.
, when the Opera browser was bought by the Chinese. 
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