Sometimes the results are clearly beneficial. Record matching is used by government enforcement agencies to locate criminals ranging from tax evaders to mass murderers. Because credit bureaus collect data about us, we can use credit cards to borrow money wherever we go. A study of 1500 reports from the three big credit bureaus found errors in 43 percent of the files. Sometimes database errors can have devastating results, as when an innocent man was repeatedly jailed because his stolen wallet was found on a murderer.
Data can become nearly immortal.
Because data files are commonly sold, shared, and copied, it's just about impossible to delete or correct erroneous records with absolute certainty. Data isn't secure. A Business Week reporter demonstrated this in 1989 by using his personal computer to obtain Vice President Dan Quayle's credit report. Had he been a skilled computer criminal, he might have been able to change that report. Many laws protecting individual privacy have been passed in the last twenty-five years.