April 2017 – Information and its Discontents

We live in a post-information revolution age where we are deluged with information and data. How we make sense and make use of this information presents complex challenges. As does how we make information available while protecting it from improper use.

In the April 2017 issue of Varsity, we try to explore some of the complex issues around information in our society today.

The lack of an archives law means the government is not legally bound to retain internal documents and records of its inner workings, to be made public at a later date. We talk to the keepers of information – professional archivists, veteran journalists and scholars who recognise the need for an archives law and value the importance of information.

Openness is crucial to unleashing the maximum value of data. The government has repeatedly affirmed the need to develop Hong Kong into a smart city and has pledged to make government information, such as expenditure, transportation and weather data available to the public. Varsity talks to open data advocates, apps developers and journalists about the shortcomings of available datasets in Hong Kong.

The more we live our lives online and rely on our digital devices, the more we potentially compromise our privacy. Governments, businesses and telecommunications and internet companies are collecting large amounts of information about us. Yet the laws protecting us from government snooping do not cover our online communication and digital data.