( Kaieteur News ) – Dem boys seh some people guard dem personal information like it is de last piece of black cake at Christmas. Ask dem fuh dem name, and suddenly dem behaving like dem applying fuh witness protection.
Dem boys seh if yuh ever tek one of dem long ferry crossings, yuh know de routine. De ticket seller look up and ask, "Name?" Not one ID card. Not one driver's licence. Not even a squint in yuh face to see if yuh lying. Just "Name?"
Well, buddy, some passengers does immediately become internationally famous. One minute is Tom Jones. Next minute is Michael Jordan. Before de ferry pull off, Elvis Presley done buy two tickets and Bob Marley travelling in economy class.
Dem boys seh de ticket seller don't even blink. He/she just write down whatever yuh say like he compiling de national census. If somebody tell he/she dem name is Superman Singh, he probably ask, "How yuh spell Superman?"
It ain't only pon de ferry, though. Walk into some government office and de first thing yuh get is one big register at de security hut. Name. Address. Telephone number. Right dey where everybody behind yuh could read it while waiting in de line.
Dem boys seh some people ain't studying dat at all. Dem does confidently write de address where dem granny used to live in 1948 and put down one landline number that disconnect since Jagdeo first term.
Is not that dem forget. Is that dem don't want every Tom, Dick and Harry knowing where dem live or getting dem cellphone number.
Dem boys seh nowadays information is gold. Some people collecting personal data faster than tax collectors. Before yuh know it, yuh getting calls about miracle investments, miracle slimming tea and miracle jackpots yuh never play.
Which bring dem boys to one serious point. As authorities continue examining de terrible ferry tragedy, they should remember that some names on de passenger manifest may not be de real names of de people who boarded. Likewise, if a victim's name is absent from de manifest, it should not automatically mean that person never bought a ticket. It may simply mean they travelled under one of dem famous "privacy names" that Guyanese have been inventing for years.
Dem boys seh when people don't trust how personal information is collected or protected, dem create dem own data protection law—with imagination. And judging from some ferry manifests over de years, Guyana has had more aliases than a Hollywood spy movie.
Talk half. Leff half.
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