No need to fear a database society

We live in a database society. It is probably time we started getting used to it. The amount of information generated about us is only going to increase and the willingness to use it is not going to diminish. As technology develops and the will to manage, control and exploit is matched by the means to do so, there will be a constant struggle between the power of individuals and that of corporations, governments and others in civil society. So we all have database fates: our life courses will be shaped by what our information echo says about us. Many of the stories that surround this stress the fears and risks associated with a snooping state, prying private sector companies and overly curious peers. Some people see Orwell's 1984 unfolding before us.

But really, it is not all bad news. The database society in which these fates will play out is not inherently good or bad. The best we can hope for is that it is as democratic as any of the institutions, markets, or regulatory and legal mechanisms that exert power over our lives. As the laws and codes that govern information use emerge there is a need to ensure that we embed within them principles of democracy and freedom from the offline world. That does not mean rejecting the use of personal information. It means finding out where its use is legitimate and proportionate in a democratic way, and reflecting people's choices about where the use of information is appropriate.