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Last time, I argued that combining the Internet with a universally and widely used number—a general-purpose identifier—system could put “everyone under Inspector Javert’s gaze” and ultimately produce a “merciless society.” This time, using Les Misérables once again, I will additionally explain the threat created by combining another characteristic of the Internet, “fragmentary information,” with a “general-purpose identifier.” (This article first appeared in gihyo.jp’s New Year project for 2011.)

The Threat of Fragmentary Information

Let us now introduce another major character: Marius, who becomes the husband of Jean Valjean’s “daughter,” Cosette. After Marius and Cosette marry, Jean Valjean reveals that he is not actually Cosette’s parent but merely raised her, and that he is a former convict. As a result, Marius abandons Jean Valjean. Marius also becomes suspicious of the source of Cosette’s dowry and begins investigating it. Naturally, he can obtain only fragmentary information. By connecting those fragments, however, he arrives at certain “facts,” as follows.

  • The fortune belonged to Monsieur Madeleine, who had once committed a minor offense but reformed, achieved great success in business, built a hospital, opened a school, visited the sick, took in and raised an orphan, became the guardian spirit of the region, and even became its mayor.
  • Jean Valjean, however, knew the secret of Monsieur Madeleine’s past wrongdoing, denounced him and had him arrested, and took advantage of that arrest to withdraw more than 500,000 francs belonging to Madeleine. This withdrawal was certain because Marius heard about it directly from a bank employee.
  • Furthermore, motivated by a personal grudge, Jean Valjean shot and killed Inspector Javert. This was certain because Marius himself heard the gunshot.

Of course, the truth was different. Since Monsieur Madeleine was Jean Valjean, Jean Valjean had not stolen Madeleine’s fortune. And when Inspector Javert was about to be killed, Jean Valjean’s quick thinking saved his life. Yet the fragmentary “facts” Marius had gathered could produce only a conclusion entirely unlike the truth.

Once again, the discerning reader will already have noticed that finding fragmentary “facts” when investigating something is another characteristic of the Internet. The truth is the totality of all facts, and extracting only parts of it often produces something far removed from the truth. The Internet always carries this danger.

In Les Misérables, these “mistakes” are exposed by Thénardier, who comes to accuse Jean Valjean of murdering a young man who appeared wealthy. Moreover, the “murdered young man” was Marius himself, and Jean Valjean had risked his life to rescue him. This is conclusively proven when the coat Marius had kept matches the scrap Thénardier brought as evidence of the murder. Only then is Jean Valjean’s honor fully restored. Marius takes Cosette in a carriage and rushes to Jean Valjean. But, devastated because he could no longer see Cosette, Jean Valjean was mercilessly approaching his final moments…

Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn[1]

The implication should now be clear. As befits a story, a messenger who happened to convey the truth appeared in the guise of a disguised devil named Thénardier and brought the dawn. In reality, however, we cannot expect anything so convenient.

Therefore, to avoid producing a merciless society, we must provide a means to reveal all facts when necessary and restore a person’s honor. Today’s Internet lacks such a means.

Neither means of restoring honor nor mechanisms for limiting the harm caused by record matching can be achieved through technology alone. Nor can they be achieved solely through institutional measures or social measures based on public education. They can be realized only when technology, institutions, and education proceed hand in hand and in balance. Only then can we obtain an environment that everyone can use safely and conveniently.

In 2011, Japan’s “National ID System” and the United States’ NS-TIC (National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace) appear likely to make substantial progress. I sincerely hope these systems will advance technological, institutional, and educational measures in a balanced manner and bring us the dawn.

[1] The title of the final chapter of Les Misérables is “Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn.” Les Misérables ends with the arrival of dawn. We too must ensure that society is not left in the “darkness.”

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