| How much money do you think is lost each year | | | | holds the personal data of people have a great |
| by companies who send out mail to the incorrect | | | | responsibility and should do their utmost to ensure |
| people at incorrect addresses? I am sure we | | | | that it is accurate. Home addresses, email |
| would all be pretty horrified if we were to | | | | addresses, telephone numbers, banking |
| discover the actual figures. Perhaps even worse | | | | information, financial history, medical records, |
| than the wrong mail being sent to the wrong | | | | dates of birth, family history, security records, |
| addresses is the fact that some of data | | | | credit history. The amount of different types of |
| contained within this mail may be of an extremely | | | | data that needs to be maintained is varied and |
| sensitive and private nature. | | | | vast. |
| Unfortunately these practices have been going on | | | | In this current age, any company holding data |
| for years with millions upon millions of pounds | | | | should be employing an efficient data cleaning |
| being wasted. The sad thing is that it really can be | | | | system. A good system will be able to detect, |
| avoided. Data cleaning which is also commonly | | | | sort and clean any incorrect or incomplete data |
| known as data cleansing and data scrubbing | | | | on a database. Data errors both large and small |
| involves employing systems that essentially tidy | | | | need to be eradicated, from huge chunks of |
| up and sort data by relevance and eliminates | | | | missing information down to the tiniest typing |
| errors and inaccuracies. | | | | error, all of which may result in people receiving |
| Almost all modern businesses rely on | | | | the wrong data, or even worse someone else's |
| computerised data systems to deal with their | | | | data. |
| customers and clients. Consider how many stores | | | | It is essential to stress the importance of data |
| we spend our money in that now operate some | | | | cleaning and both those that hold data and those |
| kind of membership or reward card scheme, all of | | | | that the data belongs to have a role to play. It is |
| them with our personal information just a button | | | | equally important that any people receiving wrong |
| click away. It is absolutely crucial for consumer | | | | or incomplete data make those responsible aware |
| confidence that this data be kept up to date and | | | | of the errors, just as it is vital that those in the |
| accurate. | | | | position of holding data need to regularly sort and |
| It goes without saying that any company that | | | | update data with their data cleansing systems. |