I received today yet another egregious example of a “privacy statement” – this time from AAMI, who also remind me that “Privacy is Important” ..
… but then go on to a wide ranging list of 26 bullet points of places where they may disclose my personal information, including to
“social media and other virtual communities”
What a wad of worthless words.
Seems his arm wasn’t that strong after all …
Miners’ Advocate and Northumberland Recorder, Saturday 29 May 1875
In doing research for my “Lambton Then, Lambton Now” articles, I spend a bit of time looking through old newspapers in Trove. This provides a constant source of useful old words that have faded away. Words like “doit” and “bawbee”, both of which mean a small denomination coin. So now if my wife inquires if I have any cash in my wallet, I can reply with “not a doit or bawbee to found there dear”.
But as well as old words, I occasionally find a phrase that seems new, but is actually old. Up until last week I would have said the phrase “all the rage” is relatively modern, but here it is in this 27 June 1874 article with the exact same meaning we have 140 years on.
One of the insurance companies I deal with …
Terri Scheer Insurance, members of the Suncorp Group.
… sent me a …
… because as they remind me in big letters at the top of the statement …
Isn’t that comforting? Well no. Because when you read the privacy statement they say …
“We may disclose your personal information to and/or collect your personal information from:”
followed by a bullet list of 22 items, including this shocker!
“Social media and other virtual communities and networks where people create, share or exchange information”
Yikes!!! So their “privacy” statement says that they can publish and share all my personal details on their (or anyone’s) FaceBook page, or multitudinous other places and organisations. Their list is so expansive, that the only thing I’m reasonably sure of is that they can’t share my information with your pet dog and cat. So now I can sleep easy knowing that the Rovers and Mittens of the world won’t be getting their paws on my mobile phone number and date of birth anytime soon.
If truth be told, that’s not a “Privacy Statement” it’s an “Unprivacy Statement.”
I enjoyed seeing a gutsy Newcastle Knights defeat the Penrith Panthers this afternoon at Hunter Stadium to go to the top of the NRL ladder.
Today’s match was the “Voice For Mining” round, so I got some slight amusement when I heard the stadium announcer remind us that …
“Hunter Stadium is a responsible server of alcohol … it is an offence to supply alcohol to miners …”
The most curious address in Newcastle – the corner of Howe and Wye (“How” and “Why”) streets.
Thanks to Simon, who pointed this out to me several decades ago. Where are you now Simon?
From the ABC News site for Newcastle this morning …
“The Head of the University of Newcastle’s School of Education says teachers are not solely to blame for failing levels of childhood numeracy and literacy.”
Indeed it looks like journalists and/or online news editors can take some of the blame too.
One of the artifacts of keeping chickens and ducks in our backyard, is that I’ve come to realise what a large number of poultry based metaphors there are in the English language, and I get to experience the following sayings in their original context …
One metaphor that I haven’t yet seen in its original form, and which I do not intend to enact is …