Erasing David

Britain

Antidote Films

Pinnacle Films

R4 DVD

Britain is the world’s third most intrusive country into its citizens’ private information, following China and Russia. Myriad databases keep track of every possible piece of information on a citizen from their shopping preferences to their family history. How much of this information is really needed? How much interdependence of the databases is safe or desirable? How long is the information kept? Although we are assured that if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear, recent breakins to databases mean the information is now available for nefarious uses like identity theft and credit card fraud. David Bond’s alternative interpretation is ‘He has nothing to hide but does he really have nothing to fear?’,

David is concerned about the gradual erosion of his privacy and personal details by the amount of information required just to survive in the modern world. The registration of the birth of his daughter revealed large amounts of probably unnecessary information were being collected just from this simple exercise. With his wife heavily pregnant, the local hospital revealed they had most records of his family’s medical treatment and earlier records could be readily obtained. Amazon had vast amounts of information based on his purchases – who he had sent gifts to, his own preferences in reading, responses to advertising campaigns.

He decided to try to escape from the database world and “disappear” from the electronic society for a month. To find out how easily he could be tracked electronically from information on the databases he hired Cerberus Security to try to find him within the month.

In his search for privacy we see a growing paranoia in David. He must consider every move he makes, every phone call to his wife, every use of his credit card. Any mistake can be used by Cerberus to close in on him.

On the one hand it is fascinating to see how he tries to evade his pursuers, but on the other hand it is equally interesting to see just how comprehensive a dossier his pursuers can put together on him from the various databases and other sources. Inadvertently he leaves the investigators a couple of loopholes. His mobile CAN be tracked and they do so during a call he makes from Germany to his wife. They raid his garbage and check him out on the Internet and find out his family members’ names and that his wife is pregnant. They also learn his car registration and insurance details and his credit card number from the garbage. Facebook provides a photo of him. When he returns to Britain it is likely that he will seek refuge with his parents. Cerberus find his parents’ addresses from various databases. They have the information right, but they get to his father’s home just a bit too late. The hospital seems the next likely target since his wife will be attending for checkups. Will he turn up with her? By pretending to be David one of the investigators is able to find out the date of the next appointment with a simple phone call. The National Health Service has been criticised for years about their lax security over personal data kept on their patients and that attitude still exists.

David in his loneliness becomes more and more paranoid. He tears his equipment apart looking for a tracking bug which he feels sure Cerberus has planted on him. The occasional brief call to his wife (he knows the mobile calls can be traced) is little consolation. He is finally forced to break cover when his wife tells him she may have pneumonia. He meets her at the hospital, hoping he is still ahead of Cerberus.

At each step David details the information kept on him by the various organisations he comes in contact with. He also documents newer invasions of privacy such as a fingerprint reader system and database to monitor the attendance of children in school classes.

In the battle between rights and responsibilities the rights of the individual are being eroded at every turn. Where does it end?

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