Thread: Australians object to offshore data

People 'object to offshore data'


June 20, 2006

MOST Australians believe they should be told when their personal details are sent offshore after companies have outsourced jobs, a union survey said.

The Combined Services Union research found 85 per cent of people surveyed believed the Government should make it compulsory for companies to disclose when data is stored in a foreign country.

The survey by McNair Ingenuity Research looked at issues surrounding the practice known as offshoring, in which Australian jobs are sent overseas, usually because of cheaper labour costs.

Within that practice, the service unions said more and more companies in the finance, communications and airline industries were using cheaper overseas bases to house personal information as they moved to cut costs by shedding Australian jobs.

The unions, including the Finances Services Union (FSU) and the Australian Services Union, said companies including AXA, ANZ, Coles Myer, Citigroup, Diners Club, Hutchison, NAB, Optus, Telstra and Qantas already had offshored work in information technology, data processing and call centres.




The research showed 89 per cent believed the Government should act to protect Australian workers from losing jobs because work is sent offshore, 85 per cent believed the Government should require all financial institutions to disclose whether they store customer information overseas and 90 per cent said they would choose a business that stored their information in Australia rather than overseas.

The research also found specific concern over Qantas's plan to offshore work, with 86 per cent agreeing that Qantas should keep jobs in Australia.

FSU national secretary Paul Shroder said the findings showed a backlash against sending so-called white-call jobs offshore.

"Companies that send jobs offshore may secure short-term savings, but risk losing customers who want the security of knowing their details are housed in Australia," he said.

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story ... 28,00.html

If anyone here is worried about offshoring of our information, let alone jobs (I am sure many are), I have a suggestion for you.

I am a medical transcriptionist. A lot of our medical information is being outsourced to other countries (because it is cheaper than hiring an American transcriptionist - big surprise ). Medical transcriptionists have been screaming about sending private medical information on American citizens offshore for years to the government but of course they do not listen.

I do not know if any of you are familiar with HIPAA - it is whole set of rules an regulations passed a while ago about protecting medical information. Well foreign nations cannot be held accountable to American law so when medical information is outsourced they are not accountable.

Anyway I would suggest the next time any of you go to the doctor tell them you want to know where your medical information is being transcribed and you want to be sure that it is kept in this country.

Thanks for the info. Geeze.......now you have to be a lawyer and knowledgable in world rules just to go to the Dr. That's really sad.

Australians are much more protective of their records (at least for now)!

John Howard had better think twice before he tries the same BS that GB is trying! We could take a lesson from the Aussies!

To all of you Aussie's GOOD ON YA!