Don't spindle or mutilate
Sir: The exaggerations of Peter J. Smith's article (14 June) on the 'computer menace' can perhaps be explained by his time in California, but such pieces are doing little to foster a balanced approach to the prob- lems of how computers should and should not be used in government.
Mr. Smith's view seems to be that to pro- tect the individual inefficiency in administra- tion should be encouraged; which might seem fine, until one is the victim of ineffi- cient administration; when one's medical record goes astray, one's tax assessment is too high, one is unable to obtain effective enforcement of debts owed, or one's un- employment pay is delayed because one's name, Peter J. Smith, is the same as hundreds of other people.
The right approach, I believe, is to start by considering where action by administra- tion is, and where it is not, desirable. I agree with Mr. Smith that modern egali- tarianism may be encouraging the indis- criminate use of government bureaucratic power, but nevertheless most of the present range of government functions are accepted by most people as conducive to the com- mon good. Having made decisions about what should be done by public authority,- we should then try and think of the most effective ways of carrying out these deci- sions. This conclusion is open to qualifi- cation, but I think that the way to prevent the abuse of computers is not by building inefficiency into the administrative system, but by preventing corruption in the public service through careful selection and train- ing, and by creating an informed and sensible public opinion.
Unfortunately some of Mr Smith's article is misleading, and little calculated to pro- mote this informed public. In the context of a paragraph about the 'indiscriminate dis- closure' of personal information he states that the Registrar-General has sold informa- tion to a 'private direct mailing company'. This can only be construed as saying that the Registrar-General has sold personal in- formation from census schedules. I do not . know what dealings the Registrar-General/ has with such an organisation, but to imply that personal information has been given
away, presumably for mailing purposes, is untrue, and furthermore disgraceful, for such allegations could seriously damage the prospects for an accurate census in 1971. I am afraid that in the charge of irresponsibility the boot is on the other foot.
Mr Smith has been too much influenced by the United States. As regards political and administrative matters this country is far more like the Scandinavian countries than the United States, and if we wish to look to the future we would do better to consider some of the developments there.
of Bristol, 40 Berkeley Square, Bristol
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