Topic 95

Data integrity by Dhruv

In a nutshell, Data Integrity is the property that as the data travels; it remains faithful to its source. It is,

• The condition in which data is identically maintained during any operation, such as transfer, storage, and retrieval.

• The preservation of data for their intended use.

Data that appears as something in one place may not appear the same in another. Looking specifically at sounds. When you record a sound using a poor recorder, the quality of sound that is obtained is poor, relative to the real sound. As a result, the data has lost some integrity. It is not as close it can be to the source.

Data integrity can be compromised in a number of ways:

It is easy also to see this with regard to images. Images, depending on the quality of the computer may or may not be adequately displayed. Also, depending on the quality of the printer, the integrity of the data may be damaged further, if the printer can’t print the actual colors. Plus, the ability to Photoshop is also damage to data integrity, if it is claimed that the photoshopped picture is the original (for some reason).

Loss of data integrity can create false information that can effect situations badly. One example, say a city construction panel is shown an image of a mall to build. The picture is beautiful and they’re all for the plan to build it. However, when its build it turns out to be the ugliest mall ever. The breach of data integrity affected the finances of the city negatively all because the person of image falsely made the model of the mall look better.

Similarly an advertiser hoping to get an AD printed, sends an image to the printers. The printer is unable to recreate the image perfectly because of limitations with color and hence affects the advertisers business. It can create misunderstanding and is a major problem in the advertising industry, where appearance is everything.

There are many ways to minimize these threats to data integrity.

These include:

• Backing up data regularly

• Controlling access to data via security mechanisms

• Designing user interfaces that prevent the input of invalid data

• Using error detection and correction software when transmitting data.

• Having the best possible sound and display settings to maximize closeness of data to the actual source of data.