Once upon a time

Not so very

long ago,

before the digital revolution,

my data

was on paper.

Bills came through the mail,

checks written,

receipt on bill

kept in a box,

mailed with a stamp.

Snail mail

it is called now.

There were

advantages

to that system.

Letters

were hand written.

Pleasure

as the receiver opened.

Handwritten

usually.

Personal.

Some people

claim

as do some offices

to be

paper-free.

My records,

e-mails

credit card bills,

etc, etc. etc.

are kept in a

hybrid system.

Not everything

gets printed

on paper.

But

anything I believe

to be important

gets

printed.

At this time of the year,

when records

are put in some

order

to prepare

for tax paying

in April,

I attempt

to go through

the files

on my computer

and my

paper files.

Increasingly

the IRS is

encouraging

people

to file their

tax returns

on-line.

I don’t wait

for spring cleaning

to attempt to

weed out my

computer

and paper

files.

Of course,

some paper records

are copies of

digital records.

File by file,

a few at a time,

I look to see

what needs to

be kept

and dispose

or delete

unnecessary

information.

There is just

too much

data.

How much

data is secure?

Credit cards

are hacked.

Today,

a large hospital system

announced that

their electronic records

had been hacked

and they would

notify the patients

effected.

And

on and on.

The amount of time

to manage all of this

has expanded

along with

the advantages

of this digital

revolution.

One health insurer

chose the same

company

the federal government

chose to set up

the Affordable Care Act.

When the new system

failed,

employees

had to learn

to process

applications,

by hand

on paper.

We can’t go back

to the ways things

were.

Is there a

solution

to the

reality

of so much

data

and not having

a choice

about whether

to put your

whole life

on electronic systems?