Is Physical Storage Safer than Digital?

When it comes to information and images, it almost goes without saying, for most people, that digital storage must be safer than relying on a physical copy. After all, digital copies can be backed up almost instantly, with several copies stored in different locations. If you are worried about losing information, having several digital copies of it seems like the safest thing to do.

What if, however, you are not worried about losing information, but are instead worried about keeping private information private?

It’s starting to become clear that hard paper copies, although they are vulnerable to destruction or to getting accidentally lost or thrown away, are more secure when it comes to guarding private information such as physical home addresses, financial information and identification numbers, and medical records. Putting archived hard copies of medical records and other private information in secure physical facilities, such as self storage units, where they can be kept safe behind fences and gates that can only be accessed in front of security cameras and using biometric technology, may be the only way to keep private information safe. Otherwise, private information is vulnerable not only to hackers and to identity theft, but also to large corporations, advertisers and marketing companies, and even to casual friends and acquaintances who decide to do their own background checks on the people they know, using Google, Facebook, and online public databases.

Although some institutions such as clinics, hospitals, banks, and schools are increasingly making their files electronic and sending them back and forth via the Internet, other institutions are starting to roll the clock back. For example, voters in Ulster, New York, are switching from electronic voting machines to optical scanning machines for primary elections this fall. The primary reason for the switch is that voters will be able to mark a paper ballot when they vote.

“Every vote will be secure and will be counted,” said Democratic Elections Commissioner Kathleen Mihm in Tuesday’s Kingston Daily Freeman. “There is a tremendous amount of security that goes into these machines. When they leave here, they are locked and sealed and only delivered by certified people.”

A similar system is used when students in federally-funded public schools take standardized tests and fill the answers into bubble sheets with number 2 pencils. Those sheets, too, are read by optical scanning machines. Unlike votes, however, examination results are now electronically linked with students through computerized school records, even though the original answer sheets are only available on hard copies.  

Surprisingly enough, a longing for the “old days” when private information was securely stored on hard paper copies, and not being freely passed all over the Internet, is turning out to be more common not among the elderly or middle-aged, but among young people. According to a study released this week by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, the Americans who are most likely to worry about their personal information being available online are those in the 18 to 29-year-old age bracket. About 44 percent of younger adults try to protect their online privacy, compared to only 33 percent of those between the ages of 30 and 49, and 25 percent of people between ages 50 and 64.

“Contrary to the popular perception that younger users embrace a laissez faire attitude about their online reputations,” commented senior research specialist Mary Madden, in a statement released by the Pew, “young adults are often more vigilant than older adults when it comes to managing their online identities.”

Those heavy metal filing cabinets that used to be so common in offices may not be the anachronism that we often assume they are when we see them in a 21st-century bank or hospital. They -- and security-conscious self storage centers to house the archives of those files -- may be the wave of the future.

Sources used:

Doyle, Ron. “The digital privacy paradox.” Psychology Today. May 20, 2010.

Gaudin, Sharon. “Surprise! Young users most in tune with online privacy.” ComputerWorld. May 27, 2010.

Keane, Meghan. “Forget about Facebook. Privacy issues are brewing in people search.” Ecoconsultancy. May 28, 2010.

Kemble, William. “Ulster will switch to new voting machines in September.” The Kingston Daily Freeman. May 25, 2010.

Luna, J.J. How to Be Invisible: The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life. St. Martin’s Press: New York, 2004.

Venters, Wanda. “The benefits and limitations of electronic medical records.” The Denver Post.  May 22, 2010.