Positive Action Group - Possan Jantys Jarrooagh

That was the title of a PAG presentation in January 2008. At the time we were concerned about organisations' ability to secure all the electronic data about individuals that was being amassed. Risks, actual and potential, that our data may be misused or mislaid were discussed. Our report of the meeting went on to say: 

'Recognising that it would be impractical to seek to hold back advances in information technology, the meeting called for the Government to establish a straightforward and readily enforceable regime that promptly penalised inadequate data protection or misuse. Such a regime should ensure that all government agencies and commercial organisations requiring clients to reveal private personal data should be deterred from allowing it to be used for purposes not originally agreed or failing to safeguard it from falling into unauthorised hands.

A government press release asks community spirited individuals who are interested in playing a part in public life to consider taking up a public appointment. The Council of Ministers and Treasury will soon be appointing members to a number of Statutory Boards and Bodies whose activities have a major impact on everyday life in the Isle of Man.

“The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.... “ is one of my favourite quotations from Shakespeare, and is, for me, a defining statement of the need for personal accountability and responsibility in our lives. We currently appear to live in a “blame culture” – our problems always being down to some-one else, as though we had no personal control, involvement or responsibility.