Safeguard It

The dangers of increasing computerization of personal, official and business information have long been recognized and are scarcely any longer controversial. First, data can be stored which is inaccurate, incomplete or irrelevant, and yet can be used as the basis for important decisions affecting people's lives. Second, people may have no idea of the information kept out, and no opportunity to correct mistakes. Third, there is the possibility that the information can fall into unauthorized hands, who could use it for all sorts of hostile, even criminal purposes. Fourth, the information could be used for a purpose other than that for which it was gathered. Fifth, because computer systems can now communicate with each other easily and speedily, the possibility is increased that comprehensive Big Brother files will be compiled on private citizens.

From birth to death, every individual will regularly find something about him appearing in some file or other. Some files may be thought trivial in themselves—though even library computers can now reveal that a reader took out a book on guerrilla warfare and another on Marxist ideology. The Vehicle Licensing Department keeps tabs on every driver's change of address, and their computer is available to the police. The list of information kept on the individual—his health, income, social security position, details of his property, his car, his job, and so on—goes on.

Of course, for those who have been in trouble with the police, or been members of an "undesirable" political group, even though they have done nothing illegal, the information kept on them multiplies. More and more of all this information has been removed from the old-fashioned cabinet and is being put into computers.

The need for safeguards is not limited to personal information. Business, too, needs protection. If a company's list of customers, or its pricing or production formulas, got into the hands of competitors, the result could be financial ruin.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what ways can the storing of inaccurate information be dangerous?
2. What is the biggest fear about personal data on computer?
3. What kinds of individual information are kept on computer?
4. What kind of people have more information on computer?
5. Why do business firms need data protection?

(Keys.)