WTF - they got the PAF

[vetran]

BBC News - Ministers criticised for sale of postcode database

The inclusion of a valuable database of postcodes and addresses in the Royal Mail flotation has been criticised by an influential group of MPs.

The Public Administration Committee said the Postcode Address File (PAF) was a national asset and should not have been included in privatisation.

stupid, stupid, stupid

[MicrosoftBob]

That and selling of the NHS data records means a lot of our private data is in the wild

[AtW]

Somebody needs to maintain and update it, might as well be the people who actually deliver mail.

They should not have sold it that cheaply, but PAF should have certainly been part of the deal.

[vetran]

Somebody needs to maintain and update it, might as well be the people who actually deliver mail.

They should not have sold it that cheaply, but PAF should have certainly been part of the deal.

maintenance yes, ownership no.

Should have gone to ONS for supply.

[AtW]

maintenance yes, ownership no.

Should have gone to ONS for supply.

Whoever maintains it should also own it to make up for the effort keeping it up to date.

[vetran]

Whoever maintains it should also own it to make up for the effort keeping it up to date.

why the PAF is a key source of information for every competitor and any data source provider that wants geographic linked data.

By all means give them an allowance for maintaining it and sharing it, but don't let them set the price.

[AtW]

why the PAF is a key source of information for every competitor and any data source provider that wants geographic linked data. By all means give them an allowance for maintaining it and sharing it, but don't let them set the price.

Whoever is maintains it should own it - makes sense that it will be done by a major firm that actually deals with delivering things, they got vested interest to keep it right.

So no real issues here as long as they are required to provide others data for a commercially reasonable fee.

[vetran]

Whoever is maintains it should own it - makes sense that it will be done by a major firm that actually deals with delivering things, they got vested interest to keep it right.

So no real issues here as long as they are required to provide others data for a commercially reasonable fee.

thats the bit!

[OwlHoot]

That and selling of the NHS data records means a lot of our private data is in the wild

and IIRC it was only after a big outcry that they agreed to even encrypt this data

So glad I opted out

[Peoplesoft bloke]

That and selling of the NHS data records means a lot of our private data is in the wild

Agreed about the NHS - but PAF isn't private data, it's just a list of addresses.