Guest Editorial: Information is Power

SQLServerCentral is supported by Red Gate Software Ltd.

Popular Topics

Home

Members

Calendar

Who's On

Home » SQLServerCentral.com » Editorials » Guest Editorial: Information is Power

46 posts, Page 1 of 5

1 2 3 4 5 »»»

Guest Editorial: Information is Power

Rate Topic

Display Mode

Topic Options

Author

Message

Phil Factor

Posted Saturday, February 28, 2009 1:12 PM

Mr or Mrs. 500

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 2:10 AM
Points: 535, Visits: 2,295

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Guest Editorial: Information is Power

Best wishes,

Phil Factor
Simple Talk

Post #666191

Shaun McGuile

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 4:17 AM

Mr or Mrs. 500

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, October 04, 2012 9:20 AM
Points: 583, Visits: 1,060

yeah Phil we're all guilty us DB people of

1. Putting power in the hands of the stupid er I mean politicians. :D

What we should always endeavour to do is omit ourselves from these databases so we the DB people still retain our freedom ;)

Hiding under a desk from SSIS Implemenation Work Crazy

Post #666460

Phil Factor

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 4:40 AM

Mr or Mrs. 500

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 2:10 AM
Points: 535, Visits: 2,295

Yeah! A trigger that deletes any sensitive information pertaining to the good folks in the SQL Server Central community would suit just fine. Nobody seems to notice triggers in production systems. :)

This is an issue that really bothers me. A friend of mine was mistakenly put onto a government database in the UK because he has the same name as a convicted criminal. Of course, he wasn't aware that it had happened. For reasons he couldn't work out, suddenly simple things like getting a loan, getting a job, participating in societies and so on became hugely difficult. He only found out about the error when he persisted in wanting to know why he was turned down for a job.

Best wishes,

Phil Factor
Simple Talk

Post #666470

Robert Hermsen

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 5:28 AM

SSC-Addicted

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 7:52 AM
Points: 455, Visits: 756

what is even better than cataloging the data? Writing simple reports without understanding the data or the ramifications. 'Can you tell me how much a person does in a day.' 'Sure, as long as it is in the system.' 'That's fine. Those who work to hard to put their time into the non critical or required time keeping system will just be fired.'

Incorrect use or understanding of data can cost people jobs and worse can close companies.

Post #666498

Indianrock

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 5:42 AM

Mr or Mrs. 500

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 8:18 PM
Points: 564, Visits: 1,466

While I'm not sure this belongs on SQLServerCentral.com, in the United States anyway, I fear corporations and private capitalists more than I do my government. So let's start by concerning ourselves with their missing moral compass and use of databases.

Post #666506

ronang

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 5:44 AM

Grasshopper

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 4:27 AM
Points: 16, Visits: 87

With great power comes great responsibilty...... Some politicians haven't actually read Spiderman yet tho'. ANY invention can be turned to evil. The splitting of the atom lead to the greatest unatural disaster the world has ever known as well as the numerous households that owe their life-giving electricity to the nearest Nuclear Power Plant. This always has been and always will be the case with new technology, at least until the dysfunctional Programming within all Humans is corrected.

Post #666507

Derek Dongray

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 5:50 AM

Ten Centuries

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Monday, May 13, 2013 2:04 AM
Points: 1,342, Visits: 1,946

More items:

In one of the papers I read last week, someone received notification from the National Health Service about appointments which they hadn't made because, as it turned out, NHS had incorrectly assigned the same ID number to 2 people. The "victim" didn't know how much of his medical history had been mixed up as a result of this. Of course, NHS didn't explain how this could happen or what they were doing to find any other duplications!

Also on the radio over the weekend, there was an item about someone who received text message 'reminders' that his Barclaycard was overdue for payment. The problem? He'd never had a Barclaycard in his life, but, being blind, these messages could be read out by text-to-speech software at the most inconvenient times. Barclaycard were unhelpful, because they claimed that the only person who could ask for the mobile phone number to be changed was the owner of the account (although they now claim to have amended it).

And this is without companies and government officials just 'losing' entire copies databases!

Derek

Post #666512

Shaun McGuile

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 5:54 AM

Mr or Mrs. 500

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, October 04, 2012 9:20 AM
Points: 583, Visits: 1,060

How can 'you' assign 2 people the same id?

With stupidityDB our new database product for goverments and health oirganisastions.

Using our newly patented black hole data storage mechanism and void query engine organisations can lose data just as they have always done.

Hiding under a desk from SSIS Implemenation Work Crazy

Post #666516

Ian Massi

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 6:18 AM

Ten Centuries

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 6:22 AM
Points: 1,309, Visits: 1,673

Sure relational databases would make it easier for totalitarian regimes to oppress people, but if they weren't invented they would use XML instead. Sure it's more work, but it would have a similar effect. Kind of like firebombing Tokyo vs the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If they want to do something, they'll find a way.

Post #666535

Phil Factor

Posted Monday, March 02, 2009 6:34 AM

Mr or Mrs. 500

Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 2:10 AM
Points: 535, Visits: 2,295

There are good points being made here. The thought I had was that Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer were both were at pains to point out the threat that their invention posed when placed in the wrong hands. How much have we done to warn the public of the dangers of that come from the misuse of databases by the foolish and unscrupulous?

Best wishes,

Phil Factor
Simple Talk

Post #666549

« Prev Topic | Next Topic »

46 posts, Page 1 of 5

1 2 3 4 5 »»»

Permissions