I had someone ask about the DLM Demo slides, so here they are:
I’ll put together an overview of the demo as well that you can read about.
Author: way0utwest
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Private Data
I think that as we evolve into a more digital world, we really need to modify and enhance the various legal systems around the world to cope with the challenges of digital information. The world changes when vast troves of information can be gathered, indexed, easily maintained, queried, and copied without anyone being aware, or few people understanding how any particular data is used. Data fundamentally is different in the digital world precisely because the costs and barriers to its movement are so low.
I’ve been concerned with this for a few reasons. One is that I like my personal privacy and would like to ensure that data collected about me and my family is something I have some say in. Or at least some understanding. However as a data professional, I also have concerns about the responsibilities and potentials liabilities of managing data in the future. There’s also the not-so-little concern about employers pressuring employees to deal with data in a way that might conflict with their personal ethics, or even the local laws.
I’m glad someone at Microsoft is taking a stance, asking the US and EU to recognize the privacy of digital data as a right we have as individuals and corporations. The request asks that governments treat digital data like they treat analog data, serving subpoenas and warrants to the owners of the data, not the custodians. While this isn’t what always happens in the real world, we certainly should have more protections for digital data than we have now.
I’d like to see governments amend their laws to also exclude IT workers from liability in working with data that they are custodians of. We often don’t make the decisions about what data to gather or how it should be managed and moved. We just implement the decisions, often under coercion from our employers. Liability should rest with those employers, not those the employers have hired.
I don’t have hope that things will change anytime soon, but I hold out hope they will at some point.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcast
Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.4MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.
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Back to SQL Saturday Washington DC
I’ve been to the SQL Saturday in Washington, DC a few times and I’m looking forward to going back. It’s a good event and since I have family in the area, I can usually take a day or two of vacation and visit.
This year the event is on Dec 5, 2015, and it’s SQL Saturday #470. Wow, we’re closing on #500, which is amazing.
I’ve got two talks I’m giving, both of which I really like. I’ve revamped them both a little, incorporating a few new items in there and I hope everyone enjoys them.
- Branding Yourself for a Dream Job
- Get Testing with tSQLt
The room I’m in will be the room for the day, with both myself and Brent Ozar giving two sessions around Wayne Sheffield talking T-SQL window functions. I know there are other great sessions, but feel free to camp out in this room.
If you’re in the area, come join us for a free day of training. The event is in Chevy Chase at the Microsoft building.
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Rogue Software Changes
Could a group of software developers make changes that fundamentally alter the way a software system should work without management being aware?
That’s the question being asked of VW right now. Most people are skeptical, but I ran across a piece that wants to lend credence to the idea that a few software engineers acted with few people being aware. They did this, not because they wanted to defraud everyone, but they wanted a solve a problem that they couldn’t do in other ways. They also didn’t see the alteration of test results as much of an issue because they thought the tests were too stringent.
I’m not sure I believe that’s what happened. Certainly there is some disagreement from various parties, but with my experience in software projects, management always wants to know how things are proceeding, with more and more questions whenever the applications don’t work as expected. When problems are solved, natural human curiosity leads more managers to ask for details, even when they don’t understand. In this case, I can’t imagine lots of VW management weren’t aware that software was being used to pass tests. Many people report to many others, and everyone would have wanted to know how VW solved this engineering problem.
The stakes for organizations will continue to rise in a global economy, and software will play increasing roles in many companies. Will we see more and more pressure to manipulate our world with software, even in criminal ways? I suspect so, and I sympathize with those that might face the loss of employment for not complying with the requirements they’re given.
Ultimately I think transparency of software is the best way to bring about better software that complies with regulations and rules. Transparency also ensures that copyrights aren’t violated (since violators code is available), and we can determine if security is being built into systems. Perhaps best of all, developers can all learn from each other, seeing exactly what works and doesn’t in each system.
I doubt we’ll get there, but transparency would be a nice place to be.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcast
Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.7MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and LibSyn.
