MegaCorps — and the Abuse of Trans Data

How it Happens — and what you can do about it

Photo: Two people working on laptops by Christina Morillo from Pexels

Trans people have good reason to fear abuse of their data by big organisations. Recent legal developments, including a beefing up of the Data Protection Act and “GDPR” appear to provide protection. But is that protection adequate? And do organisations take any real notice of the law when it comes to data processing.

Here, in the first of an occasional series written for TransActual, I look at how data gets misused, and what trans people can be doing to stop it.

A (Damn and) Blast from the Past

It starts with a tale from my history. A long time ago, as I was just beginning to transition, I found myself needing to change my name. Ah, what a palaver! Though I managed almost every single name change WITHOUT any formal legal documentation. That, is yet another story, and I will tell it, too, one day.

Mostly, matters went smoothly. Some organisations were better than others. Some…were bad. One was very bad. When I called my electricity supplier to request a name change, the call handler took exception. Very quickly, the call descended into him making some very nasty comments about “you people” (I think he meant trans people). It ended with my saying I would call back and complain about…