In a statement by the DSU Education and Welfare Officer today, it was announced that DSU would be investing in a 40% share of the research and development company Memtech. The company is developing a number of memory storage, retrieval, erasure and control devices, and by buying this stake DSU is assured of first use of working prototypes, and substantial dividends when the company launches its products publicly.
The company, based at an undisclosed location on an island in the Pacific, has already supplied a single prototype of its memory erasure unit to the Welfare centre, who will be using it to assist in compliance with the confidentiality policy. The policy states that:
... DSU recognises that all users should be able to access DSU's welfare services in confidence and that no other person should ever know they have used DSU's welfare services. ...
(emphasis ours)
While it is clear that, due to the welfare services being staffed by other people, this is not entirely possible, consultations with the philosophy and psychology departments of the University have concluded that, if the memory of anyone who did know was erased, then the policy would be complied with as closely as is practical.
The prototype now in initial use is sophisticated enough to selectively erase memory, from a few minutes to several days at a time. The process is quick, and effectively painless, as all memory of the pain caused by the process is erased at the same time.
At the moment, a disadvantage of the process is a loss of
continuity, as the welfare staff must rely solely on written case
notes to restore some memory of previous sessions. However,
Memtech are expected to deliver a storage and retrieval device to
alleviate this problem within the next few weeks
.
The Education and Welfare Officer stated that:
This partnership with Memtech gives DSU a great opportunity, not only to improve confidentiality, but to gain a potentially large return on its investment at a later date. As Memtech's technology becomes more advanced, it will make our operations considerably more efficient.
The move has not, however, been greeted with universal enthusiasm. A number of students have asked that the technology and Memtech itself be referred to the Ethical and Environmental Standards Committee for further consideration. A number of JCR representatives have also asked why Council and Finance and Services Committee were not consulted before the investment was made.
Consideration of the matter by the Ethical and Environmental
Standards Committee is expected to take months, and so a quicker
method to solve the problem is also underway, with a motion to
General Meeting that rewrites the confidentiality policy ...at
the early draft stage...
.