GDPR – Individual’s rights [part two]

As seen in the previous post, individual’s rights under GDPR are:

1. The right to be informed
2. The right of access
3. The right to rectification
4. The right to erasure
5. The right to restrict processing
6. The right to data portability
7. The right to object
8. Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

For this post, we will look at the last four listed above (you can check the first ones in the aforementioned post).

The right to restrict processing

Erasure is not always the right (no pun intended) thing to do. As when the original reason for process ends, there may be a legal obligation to hold that personal data (see picture below).

It’s also useful for controllers whenever data is inaccurate or when the legitimate basis for processing cannot be immediately proven.

GDPR for SAP: How to restrict personal data processing? by Michael Rakutko

You will be required to restrict the processing of personal data if:

• An individual contests the accuracy of his personal data, you should restrict the processing until you have verified the accuracy of the personal data.
• When processing is unlawful and the individual opposes erasure and requests restriction instead.
• If you no longer need the personal data but the individual requires the data to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.
• Where an individual has objected to the processing (where it was necessary for the performance of a public interest task or purpose of legitimate interests), and you are considering whether your organisation’s legitimate grounds override those of the individual.

Examples of methods to restrict processing are given in Recital 67.  For instance, you can mark the personal data that has restrict processing over it.

Two communication obligations for controllers are:

• impacted individuals must be informed by the controller before restricted processing is lifted.
• If you have disclosed the personal data in question to third parties, you must inform them about the restriction on the processing of the personal data (except if it is impossible or involves disproportionate effort to do so).

Exceptions

Processing may be restricted but still possible when:

• The individual explicitly consents
• For establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims
• For the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person
• For reasons of important public interest of the Union or of a Member State.

The right to data portability

The data subject has the right to receive personal data he/she has provided to a controller.

The personal data must be in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format (ICO gives as an example the ubiquitous CVS format) and have the right to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from the controller to which the personal data have been provided.

This right applies when these two conditions are met:

1. The processing is carried out by automated means
2. The processing is based on consent given by an individual or it is necessary for the performance of a contract

The individual may request that the controller sends the personal data directly to another organization (if technically feasible). Note that the controller does not have to adopt or maintain processing systems that are technically compatible with other organizations.

Data portability is a new right under GDPR.

Exceptions

Data portability does not apply where the processing of the personal data is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of an official authority vested in the controller.

The right to object

The data subject has the right to object when processing relates to:

• Legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority (including profiling)
  • unless the controller demonstrates compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interests, rights, and freedoms of the data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.
• Direct marketing (including profiling)
  • In this case, the right to object should be explicitly brought to the attention of the data subject and presented clearly and separately from any other information.
• Scientific/historical research and statistics
  • unless the processing is necessary for the performance of the task carried out for reasons of public interest.

If this processing is carried out online, then the controller must offer a way for individuals to object online.

Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

GDPR includes safeguarding individuals against the risk that a potentially damaging decision is taken without human intervention.

“The data subject shall have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning him or her or similarly significantly affects him or her.” – GDPR, Art.22 (1)

Here we have new rights for the individuals regarding profiling.

Individual safeguards for the individual

In any case, such processing should be subject to suitable safeguards, which should:

• include specific information to the data subject and the right to obtain human intervention
• to express his or her point of view to obtain an explanation of the decision reached after such assessment
• and to challenge the decision.

Fair and transparent processing

In order to ensure fair and transparent processing in respect of the data subject (including preventing discriminatory effects on a natural person), the controller should:

• use appropriate mathematical or statistical procedures for the profiling, implement technical and organizational measures appropriate to ensure, in particular, that factors which result in inaccuracies in personal data are corrected and the risk of errors is minimised

Exceptions

The automated processing is allowed if one of these is true:

• is necessary for entering into, or performance of, a contract between the data subject and a data controller
• is authorized by Union or local Member State law to which the controller is subject (which also lays down suitable measures to safeguard the data subject’s rights and freedoms and legitimate interests). The referred authorization may include fraud and tax-evasion monitoring and prevention purposes
• the data subject gave his/her explicit consent.

Decisions taken from personal data profiling shall not be based on special categories of personal data (e.g. racial, ethnic, or religious information) unless:

• there’s explicit consent from the data subject (except where prohibited by Union law or National Law)
• or processing is necessary for substantial public interest.

Next topic will address minors rights.

GDPR – Individuals’ rights [first part of two]

The intention of GDPR is to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the United Europe.

“Schuyler against Curtis and the Right to Privacy”, Judge Noble Hand (1897)

 

The following individual’s rights are covered under GDPR:

1. The right to be informed
2. The right of access
3. The right to rectification
4. The right to erasure
5. The right to restrict processing
6. The right to data portability
7. The right to object
8. Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

I’ll cover these rights in two posts. Now, let’s go for the first four.

The right to be informed

This right ensures transparency, by communicating what individual’s personal data is being used. Check here on how to create privacy note for this. What and when to inform will depend on how the personal data was obtained.

The information you supply about the processing of personal data must crystal clear and free of charge.

The right of access

Individuals have the right to check lawfulness on how their personal data is being used, so they need to easily access it (and at reasonable intervals – where possible the controller should provide remote access to a secure system which would provide the data subject with direct access to his or her personal data).

Recital 63 provides further detail on this right. Notice that excessive requests can be charged. You have to provide the information without delay and under one month. For complex requests, you can extend the period of compliance up to two additional months, by informing within one month of request receipt (and explaining the reason for extension).

A convenient checklist for handling subject access requests is available from ICO.

The right to rectification

The data subject has the right to obtain from the controller without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning him or her.

Taking into account the purposes of the processing, the data subject shall have the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by means of providing a supplementary statement.

This right is covered in Article 16 – Right to rectification and further detailed with Recital 65 – Right of rectification and erasure.

The right to erasure

This right has been expanded from previous provisions regarding erasure in the soon to be replaced Directive 95/46/EC.

The controllers must erase personal data if one of these cases applies:

• Where the personal data is no longer necessary in relation to the purpose for which it was originally collected/processed
• When the individual withdraws consent
• When the individual objects to the processing and there is no overriding legitimate interest for continuing the processing
• The personal data was unlawfully processed (ie otherwise in breach of the GDPR)
• The personal data has to be erased in order to comply with a legal obligation
• The personal data is processed in relation to the offer of information society services to a child.

Eraser by Alex Morfin

As a controller, you can refuse to comply with a request for erasure where the personal data is processed for the following reasons:

• to exercise the right of freedom of expression and information
• to comply with a legal obligation or for the performance of a public interest task or exercise of official authority
• for public health purposes in the public interest
• archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific research historical research or statistical purposes
• the exercise or defence of legal claims.

That right is relevant in particular where the data subject has given his or her consent as a child and is not fully aware of the risks involved by the processing, and later wants to remove such personal data, especially on the internet (from Recital 65). The data subject can exercise this right when he/she is no longer a child. Note there are quite a few cases where the controller can still keep the information.

The second part of this post will describe the other four individuals’ rights, which include two new rights (Art. 18 – Right to restriction of processing and Art. 20 – Right to data portability).

GDPR – Data breach reporting

For this third post on GDPR, we will cover the who and what of data breach reporting obligations. It is a good candidate for building up on existing event and incident activities.

The definition of a data breach within GDPR is:

“Data breach” means a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed. – Art.4(12)

In case of a personal data breach, the controller shall without undue delay, and where feasible, no later than 72 hours after becoming aware of it,  notify the personal data breach to the competent supervisory authority.

The GDPR details mandatory information to be included in the personal data breach notification (check what items comprise that mandatory information at the end of this post).

Regarding timing and completeness of the notification, Recital 85 states: “Where such notification cannot be achieved within 72 hours, the reasons for the delay should accompany the notification and information may be provided in phases without undue further delay.”

This obligation applies only when the data breach may result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons I suggest you double check those rights and freedoms with legal. Even better, ask the supervisory authority.

Retaining wall breach – by Hefin Richards

Furthermore, the processor shall notify the controller without undue delay after becoming aware of a personal data (the Regulation does not enforce a hard deadline for the processor to controller notification).

Beware that, for the first time, the processors will also now be subject to penalties and civil claims by data subjects.

Operationally, for all this to work, a prior assessment of the impact of processing operations on personal data will provide reliable criteria for which and when to notify data breaches (also, that assessment – known as a Data Protection Impact Assessment  in GDPR  – pinpoints what needs to be monitored for breaches).

What about the affected data subjects?

The controller should, as soon as reasonably possible and in close cooperation with the supervisory authority (for instance, prompt communication for if there’s an immediate risk of damage), communicate to the impacted data subjects:

• the nature of the personal breach
• recommendations for the natural person concerned to mitigate potential adverse effects.

Data breaches must be documented

The controller must document any personal data breaches (what happened, effects and remedial action taken). This documentation shall enable the supervisory authority to verify compliance with the data breach notification GDPR article 33. Clearly, there’s a need for people and a management system to support it (both may currently exist in the organization, due to other information security requirements).

Piggybacking on existing practices

If the organization already has procedures for handling information security incidents, then they should be reviewed for specific treatment of the personal data ones, including how to properly documenting them should supervisory authority (or legal authorities) demand it, how to notify the supervisory authority, and getting processor data breach notifications.

From CNIL, the French supervisory authority, Notifications d’incidents de sécurité aux autorités de régulation : comment s’organiser et à qui s’adresser ? provides guidance on notification of security incidents.

Where to start?

Being compliant with what GDPR regulates for data breach notification has a significant impact on organizations, including raising awareness on handling data breaches; procedures for detecting, documenting and notifying data breaches; reviewing and checking on third party entities processing personal data for your organization; communication with both supervisory authority and the data subjects.

Introducing these changes costs money, you will need to build a business case towards a data breach reporting initiative in order to secure funds. Consider this:

Personal data breaches seem to be more damaging to companies than other security breaches.

Campbell et al. (2003) found that security breaches in which personal data was accessed had a significant impact on a company’s stock market valuation (please check References below for source). People relate more with personal data security breaches (“Hey, that could have happened to me!”).

Next post will tackle the reason why GDPR exists: individuals’ rights.

References

Art. 33 GDPR Notification of a personal data breach to the supervisory authority (Recitals 85, 86 and 87 are relevant for further clarification)

Karyda, Maria & Mitrou, Lilian. (2016). DATA BREACH NOTIFICATION: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR SECURITY MANAGEMENT.

Annex – What’s goes into the data breach notification?

The notification shall at least include:

• the nature of the personal data breach including where possible: the categories of data subjects and approximate number of data subjects concerned, and the categories and approximate number of personal data records concerned;
• the name and contact details of the data protection officer or other contact point where more information can be obtained;
• the likely consequences of the personal data breach;
• the measures taken or proposed to be taken by the controller to address the personal data breach, including, where appropriate, measures to mitigate its possible adverse effects.

GDPR – Privacy by design (PbD)

Privacy by design (PbD) is meant to tackle privacy throughout the whole cycle of activities that together allow an organization to handle personal data for their purposes.

The intention is to invest sooner in privacy thus reducing untimely measures to fix personal data misuse.

A brief lookup on the topic will bring up the goal of having privacy by design done to such extent that you actually won’t need to protect personal data at all (because there won’t be any left). Also, there’s some criticism about PbD vagueness. This stems from its origin as a set of principles as we will see next, which to me is a good sign in favor of its usefulness.

The principles

It started in Canada, with Anne Cavoukian, the former Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, and her Pbd principles, known as the Ontario model:

1. Proactive not Reactive; Preventative not Remedial
   Focus on anticipating privacy risks.
2. Privacy as the Default
   Individuals should get maximum possible privacy by default.
3. Privacy Embedded into Design
   Privacy by Design is an explicit part of design and architecture of IT systems and business practices.
4. Full Functionality – Positive-Sum, not Zero-Sum
   The goal is to have full functionality, not using security as an excuse for less.
5. End-to-End Security – Lifecycle Protection
   Secure lifecycle management of information, right from the instant information enters all the way up until is no longer needed.
6. Visibility and Transparency
   Both users and providers can check on how PbD is achieved.
7. Respect for User Privacy
   Users first. Meaning strong privacy defaults, appropriate notice, and empowering user-friendly options.

Whenever we go for principles, actually doing it is not immediate – that’s the point (because, hey, they’re generic and meant to keep in mind – not operational, rather supporting operational decisions).

To focus our initiative we can piggyback on data mapping and privacy impact assessments. These are opportunities to identify the parts where there’s a need to intentionally introduce privacy by design.

Privacy by Design moments of truth

The ICO gives concrete examples where privacy by design should be considered and applied. Specifically,  contexts where things change. Both from inside and outside:

• Building new IT systems for storing or accessing personal data
  • This can be done through a change management process though you may find a better source whenever a funding request comes for new IT systems (or cloud services around your customers).
• Developing legislation, policy or strategies that have privacy implications
  • Make PbD part of the checklist of topics to check.
• Embarking on a data sharing initiative
  • Remember sharing data has never been so easy.
• Using data for new purposes
  • Look out for requests coming from marketing and sales; they know the business, you better know its impact (and express it in such a clear way your family would be proud).

Simplify

Like with security in general, by embedding checks in the right moments we can go a long way without too much extra work. Take these ways to simplify as a starting point in your PbD journey:

• Data minimization – Collect only what you need.
• Purpose limitation – Only use personal data in the way you have permission to, and only if necessary.
• Retention limitation – Don’t store it longer than necessary.
• Early consideration – Incorporate privacy at the thinking stage of a development life cycle, before doing anything.
• Start where you are – Use what you have right now.

As with other efforts, it’s sensible to embed these in existing processes and procedures, which include project management, development, and support codified practices (it’s easy to change existing organizational habits than introducing new ones, wouldn’t you agree?).

Next post I will go for breach notification (and yes, GDPR has fines for this too).

 

GDPR – By reading this you are consenting…

 

Ensuring explicit consent by the individual is one of the key areas to take into account in the GDPR (your organization may face fines up to 20000000€ or 4% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher).

From a customer perspective, proper application of consent gives individuals autonomy and control over their data, resulting in more trust and reputation of the service provider.

Alas, with GDPR obtaining and maintaining consent is now significantly more difficult to achieve so we’ll look at what challenges it poses, the alternatives, when to use it and how to go about it.

Cats don’t like change without their consent. Roger Caras

Consent challenges

On one hand, consent must be given like in “of free will, specific, informed and unambiguous.” In some cases, the entity’s power position makes it unfeasible to use consent (as in the employee/employer relationship that conditions the free will).

On the other hand, the individual can trigger the right to be forgotten (which will have to be fulfilled unless there is a legal basis justifying the need for processing) or may even request deletion of their data because they are no longer needed.

Note that the initiative to request consent may constitute a violation of the right to privacy, as in the case of Honda in the United Kingdom (consent to request consent by email without having records of previous… consent).

Mechanisms for legal processing

For the above reasons, organizations should first determine the legality, under the RGPD, of the use of personal data. And then assess what the best mechanism to sustain legal processing. Of the six possible mechanisms, consent may not be the easiest to apply or the most correct.

There are five other alternatives to consent, which may be more appropriate for your organization:

• Processing is required:
  i) In relation to a contract that the individual has accepted; or
  ii) because the individual has asked that something is done so that he can accept a contract.
• Processing is required due to applicable legal obligation (except an obligation imposed by a contract).
• Processing is necessary to protect the “vital interests” of the individual. This condition applies only to life and death cases, such as when an individual’s medical history is made available to an emergency department at a hospital for treatment after a major road accident.
• Processing is necessary to administer justice or to perform statutory, governmental or other public functions.
• Processing is done according to the “legitimate interests” condition.

Of these alternatives, processing due to legal obligation is a practical approach, identifying existing legal basis that supports the processing needs of the organization is a good starting point. A concrete example, in the area of human resources, derives from the obligation to maintain information about the employee for social security. Just keep in mind that personal data should be limited to the minimum necessary for the processing for which it is intended.

Another alternative is the use “legitimate interests” to justify the processing of personal data, such as keeping the employee’s bank account to use for payment of wages.

When to use the consent mechanism?

Consent is appropriate when:

• There is use of special categories of data (such as sensitive health data)
• Processing restriction (there is reason not to process and only store personal data – for example when the individual disputes the accuracy of their data)
• Automatic decision making (criterion should be transparent)
• Bank transfers (be careful when existing safeguards are insufficient)

Consent best practices

The GDPR requirements for consent are: being specific, granular, clear, prominent, optin, documented and easily withdrawn.

From ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) we’ve got the following guidance in the application of the consent mechanism:

• Separation: Consent requests must be separate from other terms and conditions. Consent cannot be a precondition for subscribing to a service unless it is required for the same service.
• Explicit subscription: Clear and positive action is required; Pre-filled boxes are not allowed.
• Granular: Each different form of processing must have its own means of registration.
• Assignment: It should be specific to all organizations, including other processors that will process the data.
• Easy to cancel: Provide clear means of canceling consent at any time.
• Relationship Balance: Obvious imbalances as employers/employees will result in forced consent, which is not acceptable.
• Documentation: Auditable consent records must be maintained.

For a simple list of support for the use of consent consult the document Consultation: GDPR consent guidance from ICO.

In the next post, we will go through data protection by design, a way of addressing data protection risk at the right time.

Resources

• An Article on when to use consent
• The Recitals from EU give insight on consent

Taking the ITIL Practitioner exam: Ins and outs

A post at AXELOS forums prompted me to write about my experience while taking the ITIL Practitioner exam. I am posting here based on my reply there.

I’ll write more generic stuff on taking the exam itself, then studying/preparing for it and finally some specifics. Disclaimer: It’s my personal view from my own experience. I tried hard not writing ambiguous stuff. My goal is to help you on getting the certification because you’re prepared for it 🙂 So, adopt and adapt to YOUR way.

The exam is harder (in part because it is different in style and scope) than ITIL exams below ITIL Expert level. It combines relatively large topic coverage with template based questions and the specific scenarios (that you only get to read when you seat the exam) consume precious time. “It is what it is”, like it or not. So reserve the time to study (with more than one pass through all the content please) and have a good night rest the day before the exam.

The exam
– You need to know really well the ITIL Practitioner book and where topics are. I think it’s a good idea to use little post its to help find the chapters. Use the Table of Contents and the word index at the end, it’s good and faster than your memory. It works. Some topics are touched in more than one place like stakeholder analysis or reporting (these are just examples; there’s naturally lots of cross-referencing between the main topics like OCM with communication for instance). So it’s more efficient wasting as little time as possible looking for context in the book.
– I find one or two questions really difficult to understand. So don’t dwell too much on those. Tough decision because of the way the exam is organized (specific scenarios give context and at least for me it was hard coming back to a different block without re-reading the scenario again). I establish a half-way goal (like half the questions at half time or a bit earlier for buffer). I tend to be faster and review as little as possible but this time I reviewed a lot! So, make the time for it.
– It takes time to read the specific scenario, the question, then think on the right answer and/or eliminate the wrong ones. So it’s not efficient jumping around the questions; it’s more effective doing them by specific scenario blocks of questions.

The study
– I recommend reading The whole ITIL Practitioner book in one go first so you know what’s harder for you. Use different ways to review the content. For me it worked writing summaries, lists and – to a lesser extent than usual – mindmaps. Writing it down makes me notice patterns and think on it in a different way (good because my memory is bad 😉 I’ve used as a rule of thumb the weight of the questions per main topic as a guidance on how long I’ve studied for each (I studied first the heavy ones – did not follow exactly the book sequence for deeper study.
– Study really well the Introduction of the book; most of the easier questions come from here (it’s really good and has new stuff there. I like the way the Service definition is deconstructed in value, outcome, cost and risk as a way of explaining what a service is), you can thank me after passing the exam for this one.
– Try the mock exams officially available, they do reflect the kind of questions in the real exam.
– Go beyond the questions available within the mock exams. Especially the ones using the templates at the end of the book (the Toolkit chapter). You will certainly have questions made on top of practical examples using those templates.

Specific tips (please take them with salt; it’s my perception of my exam)
– For the measurement and metrics… The questions on this main topic used frequently templates from the appendix. So it’s good to review the specific templates and mock exam questions using templates.
– For CSI Approach you’ll have to be careful with outputs from each step (it really shows on the mock exam – I stress this again: study the mock exams),
– As for the Guiding principles, I suggest you take note whenever you find references of one or more of them on the other chapters; they do not show up always in a clear way in the book.
– Beware of the deceptive communication chapter. It’s quite easy to understand while reading it but I found the questions hard. That being said maybe it’s just the case this is the part I need to learn and practice the most 😉 [I’ve been doing that by the way]

Hope this helps! In the end of the day, you’ll have to approach the ITIL Practitioner exam in a systematic way. Reserve the time, plan for it… and just do it.

Resume – Books, doing and breathing

Summer Sky near by Alqueva

I want you to benefit from some starting points below. I’ll get better at it, promise.

Books

Two half a meter book piles are now beside my bed. I may need shelves before they dangerously rival Pisa’s tower. Better have less books around I guess. Three quite different suggestions:

• (To read) The new Kevin Kelly: The inevitable. His “What Technology Wants” book had so much to think upon I had to stop reading it because I was reading too fast.
• (Reread) 18 minutes (shot video on this wonderful run-walk “tip”) from Peter Bregman.
• (Reading) I keep coming book to Terry Pratchett. I started with Wyrd sisters and reading his books keep jolting my “new bark“. This is delicious (from Moving Pictures, I think it’s at page 35 at the paperback edition – It’s my current non-technical read and I’ve been learning a lot):

“Of course, it is very important to be sober when you take an exam. Many worthwhile careers in the street-cleansing, fruit-picking and subway-guitar-playing industries have been founded on a lack of understanding of this simple fact.”

Doing

Things I am doing and… improving:

• (Drawing) A drawing a day. Started back in 29th February (it is a leap… year). Almost 100 hundred drawings now ranging from 10 seconds fast and furious drafts to one page comics that took me rewarding hours.
• (Habits) Getting good at acquiring and letting go habits (drawing is one I’ve acquired). They say it’s easier to change existing habits. I found it true at least for eating and reading (Duhigg’s book is an excellent read and may prompt you to tackle habits in a purposeful and conscious way).
• (Second life) I think it has to do with aging; I am now less tolerant with entropy and actively looking for ways to make significant change happen (yes I am talking about myself – seems a sensible place to start). I understand way better now what Peter Drucker wrote on this (the “second life” and beyond daily work-as-usual, whatever that is for each of us).

Breathing

I’ve used the word fast too many times in this post. I suggest you try this if you ever feel like going too fast and under too much stress than you can handle.

I will be doing this with a [non-frequent] newsletter format (so one can either keep them coming or opt-out!). Working on topics and focus so it’s beyond a ego-list of things I love  (like what really has worked for me).

Be Well. Até já.

Online learning by yourself – what are you waiting for?

Do not let it pass. You have available resources as never seen before.

I’ve just finished Seth’s Godin online course at Udemy. This one is particularly good for those thinking (but not having decided) on being your own boss.

I took it in my own pace and wherever I wanted to (including at subway – these online learning platforms now allow you to download the videos).

It’s not a matter of available time on your side. It’s a matter of choosing to improve yourself step by step, consistently.

Some starters that I have used:

• www.udemy.com (browse the categories and explore classes and feedback)
• www.skillshare.com (plenty of IT and arts to learn. By the way, when you teach you really have to know your stuff. This and the previous site allow you to publish your own courses)
• www.coursera.com (the Duke University course on Gamification is… rewarding! Some happen at specific dates)
• www.youtube.com (yes, although it will be harder to thing good stuff and you’ll be own your own regarding discipline to learn)

Little suggestion: Don’t pick more than you can handle. I did that at Coursera because I was so eager to take it all (many courses are free and damn good). Pick one and commit to finish it.

Know more resources? Please comment them in.

Certificate for Seth Godin’s – Freelancer Course at Udemy

Storytelling – Keep it short

Despite nowadays trend for bigger novels, I cherish short, straight to the point narratives.  A nice definition for short story is one that you can read in one sitting.

Stories told in a few words may have a huge impact and are adequate for communicating ideas.

Some well known really short forms are proverbs (Around the world in 52 proverbs), haiku and phrases by well known people. For the latter a good place to start is goodreads.

Another form is the flash fiction like this one attributed to Emingway: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”.

But… Be careful not to abuse the original sense of those little gems.

Mush and Room: Gamification

Gamification according to Mush & Room