Data Privacy Grows in California

Posted on January 23, 2021 by way0utwest

A few years ago the CCPA passed in California. This was the first large scale effort in the US to provide some legislative action on data privacy in the wake of the GDPR taking effect in the EU. While there have been some actions under the CCPA, it didn’t seem to have as much of an affect on how data is managed as the GDPR did.

However, in November 2020, the citizens of California passed Proposition 24, which was seen as a CCPA 2.0. This expands data privacy laws and allows consumers to direct businesses not to share their information.

To me, this is a good trend in that consumers want more say in how businesses use their data. Unlike a law passed by a legislature, consumers would have to amend this in another vote. This places a greater burden on businesses, both to handle data more carefully, but also to ensure more cybersecurity. I think this just requires business to stop giving lip services to these items and actually back up what they claim they want to do.

I also like that consumers have new rights, which is important. I’ve been dealing with the GDPR at Redgate Software for a few years and this hasn’t been overly burdensome to many businesses. It is work, but often many companies have played fast and loose with consumer data in the past, and now they need to respect their customers’ rights more.

I wish this type of regulation were in place across the entire US, and I hope it becomes a focus in the future. While this can raise some costs, it also requires good practices for data handling and security, something that most of us want from every company. If you need to use data, protect it.

Steve Jones

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A Beginning Project

Posted on January 22, 2021 by way0utwest

One of the ways in which developers become better at their craft is by building software. They tackle a personal project or maybe modify someone else’s code. They may work through exercises, solving problems like the Advent of Code. As with many tasks, practice makes perfect.

Database developers need to do the same thing. To grow their skills, they certainly need to find ways to improve their skills. That means tackling some sort of database project, which is often inherently more complex than a software project. Beginning code projects might ask you to reverse a string. Certainly a T-SQL project might do that, but what about storing a set of data for strings? What about setting up a server and database? There can be a lot more to database development than the programming code.

I do think that learning to model data, and store it in an efficient, useful fashion, is a skill. Whether in a relational database or a NoSQL store of some flavor, you need to find a way to not only solve a problem, but get feedback.

Today I wonder if you have a thought on a good beginner project? I found a list, but are there any that you think will help a junior database developer learn how to built entities and relationships?

Maybe more importantly, how do you evaluate a good design? How do you get feedback, or test and evaluate your work? Often many of us make choices in the real world, and we may not learn how well they actually work until lots of code is written and an application stresses our design. Then it might be too late, or very difficult, to change things.

If you’ve got ideas, exercises, or even ways to share designs, let me know today.

Steve Jones

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The First Data Saturday is Tomorrow

Posted on January 22, 2021 by way0utwest

Data Saturday #2 – Guatemala is tomorrow. This is the first event on the calendar, though the second one to move from SQL Saturday over. I’m thrilled that this is taking place and that there are presentations in both English and Spanish. I hope sometime to actually attend a live event like this, and see a session in another language. I’m curious if I can follow along with the code and slides.

If you haven’t registered, you still can and attend virtually.

Unfortunately I won’t be here, as I have prior commitments all day, but I’m looking forward to hearing how to goes.

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Daily Coping 22 Jan 2021

Posted on January 22, 2021 by way0utwest

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to take a different route when you next go somewhere.

I go a lot less places than I used to before the pandemic. It’s something that never really mattered to me, but it stands out now. My Google travel timeline each month is way less diverse than I’d like.

However, I do go to the grocer, the gym, and coach a little volleyball. Those are relatively short trips, but I can go out of my way a little. The other day, I was going to the gym, and normally it’s a fairly straight, short set of roads. However, I can go a little past my normal turn and turn into a neighborhood that loops back behind the gym. It’s a slower route through some neighborhoods, but it also goes alongside the E-470 highway outside Denver.

It used to be a very open route, but there has been more development, and there’s less open space. The nature of the changing world, but not a welcome site. As many others feel, I wish the area was more like when I moved here.

In any case, it was a nice drive, windows open, heat blasting, music turned up.

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