Final Word from Friday, January 14, 2011

A recent flyer in MFD and LN offered a 1 oz. Silver Eagle coin for Kč 568, with postage. This was almost equal to the spot price of silver at the time, which was hovering around $30/oz. This made the flyer look more like a way to collect personal data than a real offer to sell coins. Bargain-hunters who surrendered their data could later be bombarded with other offers. Gaining access to personal data was also apparently one of the ideas behind the Opencard transit card. The data-protection office found it unacceptable in Nov. that Prague was charging people for anonymous cards but giving the personalized ones for free. Now that the data has already been surrendered, why not put the Opencard to additional use? Its convenient size would make it an ideal ID card for routine things such as entering buildings or making deposits. Or does the state not trust Prague to handle our personal data securely enough?[Czech Republic city hall Haguess Národní pokladnice troy ounce]

Glossary of difficult words

flyer - a small handbill or insert advertising an event or product;

oz. or ozt. - ounce (one troy ounce equals 31.1 grams);

spot price - the price of a commodity for immediate delivery;

to hover - to remain poised in one place, typically with slight but undirected movement;

bargain-hunter - someone looking for a good deal;

to personalize - to make something identifiable as belonging to a particular person.


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