This page under construction
Databases provide the basis for our Information Society. They
help businesses keep track of customers and products. They
help law enforcement find criminals (NCIC). But with the increased
use of databases has come an increasing loss of privacy. Some
privacy advocates fear that we are entering a "dossier" society
in which our lives will be entirely constrained by the information
stored about us. When it is your word against the computer, who
is the more credible witness?
Question: Do we have a constitutional right to Privacy?
Policy Issues:
- How will the data be gathered and verified?
- What purposes will the data be used for?
- How will it be maintained and secured?
- When will the data be destroyed?
Law and the Industry
Important Software:
MS Access
Oracle
Terms:
Field
Record
Relational-data is stored in tables, and related by key fields
Hierarchical-data is organized according to some hierarchy
Networking-links between records can be established as needed
Search (or Query) (AND/OR) (SQL/QBE)
(Note that the "booleans" AND/OR can often be used with search
engines. See for example, www.yahoo.com (click on
advanced search)
Sort (ascending/descending) (primary key, secondary key, etc.)
Index
Report
Click here
to go back