CODE EXCEPTIONS

Technology is constantly hurtling along with new developments all the time. And with these developments, the world around us changes too. This is no different for the government, who have moved on from the old days of paper folders and filing cabinets to computer systems and large databases. But these new methods of collecting and gathering information have led to the development of what is now being called the Database State. Despite promises by the Coalition government to take steps to reduce this Database State, there are still organisations out there, such as NO2ID, who worry that our society is being stripped of its right to privacy. So far, this all sounds pretty Big Brother. But is it really as scary as it seems? Or are we hurling ourselves into a Minority Report esc era?

The 'database state' is a term used to describe a state where computers are used to watch people in an attempt to manage society.

Databases are made which contain all sorts of information about people, such as fingerprints, DNA or number plates.

The different departments in the government control and maintain these databases.

The idea of gathering data on people seriously threatens a person’s right to privacy, especially with things such as a nationwide fingerprint databases, or medical information.

Such a large computer system presents a high risk of error – when the information being stored is people’s lives, errors could potentially cause a lot of serious problems.

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Such a large system would be a big temptation to hackers – can we really trust all of that information to be completely secure? Rather than in the old days when people had to go through literally hundreds of paper files to access a person’s information, having computer systems could make it easier for people to snoop into other people’s personal data.

With this potential risk of data being leaked or misused, it could make it difficult for people to trust their government, which is a vital part of the democratic system. And the consequences of fraud could be a lot more severe.

In the September run-up to the 2009 election that would lead to the Coalition government, the Tories made a promise to fight to end the Database State through cutting the number of databases being used. The National ID card was abolished so at the very least we won’t be needing to use our Magicard Printers to create personalized IDs, but lately there have been suggestions that not enough is being done to ensure our privacy is being protected. TechWeek Europe reported that of the government departments asked, none could say they had decreased the number of databases they kept since the beginning of the Coalition.

So is the Database State as real a threat as some would have us believe? Or is it just being hyped up to more than it really is? What do you think? Let us know in the comments!