In message
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[log in to unmask]>, at
12:57:16 on Thu, 20 Jan 2005, Tim Trent
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>A tape is "just a tape" unless one knows how to unravel the data held upon
>it. It is probabaly not even data within the meaning of the DPA1998 when it
>is mounted in/on a computer. All it has on it is binary zeros and ones that
>can only be interpreted by relevant software.
That is true of all data on a computer. The Word documents are binary
ones and zeros that need a copy of Mr Gate's software to interpret them.
> And (again this depends on the nature of the backup) even a backup is
>not, of itself, a ready archive of emails in systematically retrievable
>form.
Depends on the form of the backup. My email backup here is as accessible
as my day-to-day email.
However, if the backup isn't accessible to anyone (for whatever reason)
then there certainly doesn't seem any more need, from a policy point of
view, to worry what's on it, than a backup that's been destroyed. Of
course, if the backup held the only copy of the name and address of a
murderer, you'd probably find that the police could suddenly find a data
recovery outfit to read it.
--
Roland Perry
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