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| Image from Pixabay |
My grandparents had a Frisian tail clock hanging on the wall. In the same village, my in-laws had exactly the same clock. Recently, my wife made an interesting revelation about their version.
According
to that clock, time passed more slowly than in reality. They had already taken
it to a clockmaker in Belgium. A cleaning didn’t help. Then someone revealed a
special trick. He said the clock probably wanted to hang slightly askew. That
turned out to be true. But getting it off-level was a matter of millimeters. It
took weeks to find the right position. Other clocks in the house served as
reference points.
I have a
modern desk lamp with a built-in digital clock. My physics teacher once
explained that electric clocks always show the correct time because they – if I
remember correctly – tick along with the frequency of the alternating current
(50 Hertz in Europe). Not so with my desk lamp clock. I have to reset it every
few weeks. I usually do that when it’s two minutes fast, because then it gets
too annoying. I’m always surprised that in 2025 there are still clocks that
don’t keep accurate time.
All these
clocks that don’t perform their task well need to be interpreted. “Oh right,
it’s that clock, so it’s probably a bit earlier/later.” With clocks in someone
else’s house, you often don’t know that. You might think you’re already too
late for the train home, while you could have still caught it.
We also
interpret security policy. As a security officer, I often get questions like:
someone did this or that, is that actually allowed? The answer is rarely stated
literally in a policy document. You have to tilt the document a bit, so to
speak, to extract the right information. We always find one or more rules that
apply to the situation. Sometimes you also have to want to see it. That’s where
professional judgment comes in: you’re a security officer for a reason, and if
you say something is or isn’t allowed, then that’s how it is – your judgment is
based on your professionalism.
Over the
years, I’ve seen a parade of colleagues flagged by some security system. Those
notifications lead to an assessment. Is it worth taking action? Is the incident
serious enough? Or is it immediately clear that it was an accident and the user
had no malicious intent? I find the latter especially interesting: if it’s a
report about something that could potentially have malicious intent, then you
have my attention and can expect a meeting with your supervisor. They know you
better than I do and may have other puzzle pieces that together paint the
picture of a generally exemplary employee – or not.
In all that
time, no one has ever dared to ask: where does it say that this isn’t allowed?
No, they feel caught, say sorry, and promise never to do something so stupid
again. Fortunately, I’ve rarely encountered anyone with bad intentions. Most of
these incidents are the result of well-meaning actions that unfortunately
conflict with policy. Everyone is supposed to know the law, the law says, but
in practice it’s a bit different. We’re happy to help them stay within the
lines.
My
grandmother had a special time policy. She set the clock ten minutes ahead.
That way, if she had to go somewhere, there was always the reassurance that she
should have already left, but luckily still had some extra time. I always found
that just as strange as clocks that decide to show a time other than the
correct one.
And in the big bad world ...
- The number of Signal users in the Netherlands is increasing rapidly, and that's good news for your privacy. [DUTCH]
- Online age verification is getting tougher, but privacy experts are pushing back. [DUTCH]
- This professional basketball player may have had an interesting side job.
- The EU is demanding more transparency from AI developers.
- There is debate about the use of AI by police forces.
- The British press is making a big deal about the arrest of suspected cybercriminals who targeted several retail chains.
- Two Dutch Tax Authority systems violate the GDPR and must therefore be shut down. [DUTCH]
- McDonald’s AI recruiter has leaked significantly.
- AI is also being used to impersonate high-ranking officials.
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