Files from the dead and information in-memoriam

Somehow a funny caption seems inappropriate.

An excellent article here at gizmodo.co.uk stopped me in my tracks today. The author tells of a job reading, reviewing, summarising and then destroying files within a social security department of a local authority. For 18 months the author waded through a vast room of literally thousands of files, the files of children who had died in the care of that local authority. The dead room as it was known. Anyone who has worked in legal RM or for any hospital records unit or for any local authority will have a taste of what this is like, though not the distilled horror of reading bland summaries of dreadful circumstances. The mere thought of this job gave me a palpable feeling of dread and a cold sweat.

Records management, risk and cricket.

WG Grace makes everything relevant so he does.

W G Grace once said some very fine words about doing the obvious thing no matter what the circumstances are, in essence bat first, no matter what, if you can. 

‘When you win the toss – bat. If you are in doubt, think about it, then bat. If you have very big doubts, consult a colleague – then bat.’ W G Grace.

Forgive, forget or just honest reportage?

Your real digital future, don't kid yourself.

"I am who I am today because of the choices i made yesterday" - Eleanor Roosevelt

Should one’s past  be held against you for the rest of your life, and beyond, or should you be allowed to retreat into obscurity? This debate is a fascinating example of how far removed most commentators, legislators and regulators are from the technology which is driving the question in the first place. From the usual points of view this is being driven by people who don’t want youthful and trivial discretions to be held against people thirty years later. This is partially a red herring, there will always be finger prints of past actions available, in the decades and centuries before the internet it was called a reputation and no one was taken seriously without one, for good or bad. What this particular legislative demand is about isn’t the right to be forgotten, it’s about wanting to edit your past, to edit your online reputation to remove the sleazy bits. Now various people will champ at the bit and state that the right to correct errors is vital. But who chooses what is an error and who chooses to edit it? the moment you open that particular Pandora’s box a world of nasties can explode from political figures editing their pasts to criminals attempting to slide away from the consequences of their actions.