Custody

The paperwork and important documents that underpin our lives are different from most information.

They travel with us throughout our lives. They establish who we are, record what we have achieved, protect our interests and provide evidence of the people, possessions and responsibilities that matter to us.

Yet the architecture through which these documents are managed has evolved around transactions. When information is required, a copy is requested, transferred and stored. Custody quietly passes from the individual to the organisations with which they interact, often many times over.

This raises a fundamental question.

Where should long-term responsibility for the documentary evidence of a person’s life naturally belong?

The answer may be simpler than the systems we have created around it.

Individuals are the natural custodians of their personal paperwork and important documents.

This does not mean that organisations should be denied information they legitimately require, nor that information should never be retained where there is a genuine need or obligation to do so. It suggests a different starting assumption.

Where possession is not necessary, custody should remain with the individual and organisations should be granted appropriate access when legitimate interaction requires it. This changes the relationship without diminishing responsibility.

Individuals retain custody of the information that represents their lives. Organisations remain responsible for how they interact with that information and for any information they genuinely need to hold.

Responsibility sits where it most naturally belongs.