>And we need to separate between public interest and mining information about every individual
It's the same thing. One man's junk information is another man's treasure. The interest of the public is very wide since different people can have widely different interests.
> One man's junk information is another man's treasure.
Just because someone wants to know the color of my underwear (even if they regard that knowledge as a treasure), there is no valid public interest in that. Preemptively and forcibly opening up all personal information is a very dystopian thought.
and how is a valid public interest defined? To me I would consider it to mean a piece of information that a person may be curious about or may want in order to make a decision. If someone is making an underwear recommendation system then I can see how they can be interested in collecting the color of everyone in order to offer this service.
>opening up all personal information is a very dystopian thought
I don't think it needs to be like that. Freedom of information will allow things to be made more efficient and for better decisions to be made and their impact measured. Anything you are curious about you are able to find out.
> The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society.
So unless someone can prove that the knowledge about the color of my underwear is crucial for ensuring "the welfare or well-being of the general public", I would say that I should have the right to keep that secret.
It's the same thing. One man's junk information is another man's treasure. The interest of the public is very wide since different people can have widely different interests.