Digital citizens
Paper records of significant events are on their way out. But critics are concerned about the integrity of digital data, writes John CouttsDigital citizenship could soon be a fact of life if the government gets its way. Paper records of births, deaths and marriages - the legal bedrock of individual identity - are to be phased out in England and Wales. Cradle-to-grave records will be stored on a new database - and the only proof of who you are will be digital.It is not something the government wants to trumpet. A recent white paper hinted at the idea and the publication of an official consultation document brings digital citizenship a step closer. The new system could be introduced from 2005 if it receives parliamentary backing.
Under the present system, people give information about births and deaths in the area in which the event happened. The registrar writes the information into weighty, leather-bound books - red for births, black for deaths. This framework - civil registration - has changed little since it was introduced in 1837.
But it is a system the government describes as antiquated. Under the proposed changes, the registers will be stripped of their legal status once their contents have been transferred to the new database. No new paper records will be created and, eventually, there will be a digital "through-life record" for everyone.
Visiting the registrar's office could become a thing of the past, too, because the new system encourages registration by telephone or internet.
"The government is dedicated to offering the public the services it wants and needs using a variety of channels," says Andrew Pinder, the government's e-envoy. "Enabling online civil registration is an example of building services around the needs of citizens, fitting in with people's daily lives and crucially offering choice and flexibility."
But the government's optimism is not shared by everyone. "It's not just a question of moving from paper to digital. This is a radical change in the nature of the records," says Richard Harper, visiting professor in socio-digital systems at the University of Surrey. "The government seems to want to toss aside what few tangible contacts it has with people and to make them merely digital."
The plans are a fundamental challenge to established notions of citizenship and may be the most far- reaching changes since records began. The shift to digital raises important questions about the integrity and durability of crucial records. Electronic documents are difficult to authenticate and potentially easier to alter than paper ones because there is no registrar's signature.
Digital data is also vulnerable over long periods of time - and this could pose problems, because records of citizenship have to survive for decades rather than years.
The government recognises this. That's why acts of parliament and other key legal documents are archived on vellum, an animal-skin parchment that can last centuries.
Australia is one of a few countries that have started to introduce digital registration, and the challenges of electronic record-keeping are recognised. "Paper will generally survive 'benign neglect'," says Danielle Wickman, from the Australian Society of Archivists. "Electronic records will not survive unless they are actively managed and conscious effort is put into making sure they remain accessible."
Balancing the requirements of electronic accessibility with data preservation is increasingly problematic. Computer systems are good for processing and sharing information - but long-term storage is uncharted territory.
The British Library is one of a few libraries of legal deposit in the UK. It is required to keep copies of just about everything that is published, from books to local newspapers.
"If there's a choice between digital and paper formats for a publication, the favoured solution from the point of view of longevity is the paper version," says Helen Shenton, from the British Library, which holds paper documents that are 1,800 years old. "At present, there's no way of guaranteeing continued access to and preservation of the digital version."
It's not just high-profile public records facing the digital dilemma - it is a potential timebomb for local archives, too. The National Lottery's New Opportunities Fund (NOF) is one of a growing number of organisations with big money to spend on getting Britain online. Through its "NOF Digitise" programme, it has poured £50m into more than 150 schemes - many community-based - to get archives on the web. But some experts warn that lack of forward planning could mean such communal memories are eventually lost altogether.
"There's a real problem for local archives - and there's a general perception that the funding to create digital material is massively ahead of investment in long-term infrastructure," says Neil Beagrie, programme director for the Joint Information Systems Committee, a body that provides guidance on digital issues to the academic community.
"Money is going into creating digital material - but there's no money going into the preservation of it."
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