Oh dear oh dear...what is the point of a database, if the data on the database is bollocks?
That is the question that Nanny is pondering after it was revealed that her much vaunted DNA database contains over 500,000 names that are false, misspelt or incorrect.
Nanny's much "respected" and "competent" ministers have admitted that one in seven of the genetic profiles on database is a "replicate", raising alarming questions about the integrity and accuracy of the entire system.
Nanny's database contains 4 million names, it is the largest in the world.
Something to be proud of eh?
It holds details of rapists, murderers, and suspects arrested but not charged. Unfortunately a database is only as good as the data it contains, if the data is bollocks then so is the database.
Thousands asked to give their details to police, upon arrest, have given false names or alternative spellings of their names. In other cases, mistakes have been made in the spelling of names. Some files include names belonging to someone else, or names of people who do not exist. Altogether there are 550,000 "replica" files.
Needless to say these errors, aside from making Nanny and her database look ridiculous, also pose a threat to innocent people who may be ensnared by the state because their names are mistakenly on the database.
The database also contains details of 150,000 children under the age of 16, many of whom have been arrested by police but found to be innocent or not charged with any crime.
We should not be surprised at this fiasco, Nanny's record when it comes to IT projects is lamentable (to put it politely) eg the health service. Politicians should never be allowed anywhere near long term complex projects such as IT development (or indeed the Olympics), they have neither the brains, experience, qualifications or time (5 year projects run by 2 year politicians) to be involved with such things.
That being said, Nanny doesn't give a stuff; she will continue adding to her erroneous database and hang the consequences (and any poor sod mistakenly picked up by the state for having his/her name on the system)!
And today we have a top judge proposing that everyone in the country - and all visitors - be added to the system on the grounds that ethnic minorities are over represented at present.
ReplyDeleteThe system can't cope with 4 million entires, so what would happen with 15x that number?
And that justification is simply brilliant - presumably on the same grounds we should be locking up more women as they are under represented in the prison system?
Today's papers stated that HH Judge Sedley is a civil liberterian and a communist sympathiser. This is impossible.
ReplyDeleteHH fails to state that this law could only be applied in England so unless Scotland follows on, presumably some form of registering will have to be introduced for visitors from Scotland (and the Channel Island,m Isle of Man and Northern Ireland as well)
If something as long standing as the fingerprint database can be wrong (remember Shirley Mackie of Strathclyde Police), its not that the state can make a cock up of this that is the problem (we know that)- its that judges like Sedley believe its infallable and instruct juries accordingly- this guy should be impeached.
Being subject to constant change I have yet to find a corporate name and address database that is EVER, even just after a cleansing exercise, better then 90% accurate.
ReplyDeleteThe DVLA records, used to decide whether people can have the use of their legally owned taxed and insured vehicles, is admitted to be somewhat less than 70% accurate and then some. And with a time lag on updates. This despite being a relatively simple system with supposedly cradle to grave inputs and checkpoints and a well funded (by Road tax and the like) department to operate it. Still doesn't pay for itself apparently.
That anyone, especially judges, should have blind faith in these systems should be genuinely worrying to the population - especially those who try to stay legal and will therefore be in the system.