Computers don't kill data, people kill data

In April's newsletter, we spoke about why software companies shouldn't be liable for damages their software causes. The basic point - people blame technology when it isn't technology's fault. The recent Time Warner fiasco reinforces the point. (There are lots of stories on this— here's one from Computerworld.)

This is probably one of the greatest messes in data security in recent time. For those who haven't followed the story, tapes containing the personal information of thousands of employees have gone missing. How this happened isn't clear. But it does strike me that this is typical of many of the problems blamed on technology-the technology didn't cause the problem. There is not a computer program or piece of hardware in the world that can absolutely stop a tape from being misplaced. Sure, in the future, Time Warner will take extra steps to make the tapes secure even if they are lost. They're still going to be dependent on some one somewhere doing the right thing every day.

November 28, 2008 | Email Us

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