Number ‘better than name’ for privacy

Press, 27 May 1981, Page 10

Number ‘better than name’ for privacy

NZPA Brisbane. It is better to be a number than a name if you want privacy in a computer society. That is the opinion of a Melbourne lecturer, Mr K. Fitzgerald, who told the Australian and New Zealand Society for the Advancement of Science Congress that using numbers for identification far outweighed the emotive fears of “just being a number.”

“Identifying numbers, in a quiet positive way, helps to ensure privacy and are thus one of the prices we must pay for progress,” said Mr Fitzgerald, the executive director of a computer abuse research bureau, in a paper presented to the communications section of the congress. Numbers provided definite

identification whereas names could be confusing, with two people often having the same name.

A person could be described in different ways using different versions of the same name, leading to the possibility of information relating to one person being given to another.

The real threat to privacy in the use of numbers came when the information gathered was being used for a purpose different from that intended.

He argued that inspection rights being granted to all individuals would provide the most effective way of motivating management to ensure the provision of controls over accuracy and completeness in computer files. “If inspection rights and tracking information were to

eventuate then organisations holding sensitive data would face an arduous and expensive task in servicing inquiries,” he said.

“However, it would also be a strong test of the need to collect information on individuals.”

Mr Fitzgerald said that the need to build security into computer systems was becoming more and more important.

As more people became familiar with the computer, the opportunities for computer abuse would expand greatly.

“The computer age is at a stage where not only is there a growing demand for information but there is also a growing potential ability for more and more people to compromise the system,” he said. ,