Law and technology

The Herald recently reported on a lawyer’s “negligent or incompetent” use of the Landonline e-dealing system that was said to “imperil the electronic system” of land titles. The incident prompted another lawyer to warn that the e-dealing system was insecure.

While any improper or irregular dealings with something as important as land titles is a serious matter, is the integrity of the Landonline system – or the concept of e-dealing for land titles generally – called into question based on one, or even several, such incidents? No – at least not before a proper comparison with the rate of mistakes/problems/fraud under the old system before such a comparison is made.

There were of course occasional issues with old, paper-based land title system. It is too early to tell if the new system (which was only fully phased-in in 2009) is, statistically, more or less secure than the old system. In the meantime, the Registrar-General of Land, Robbie Muir, has defended the new system, making the point that an electronic register is more secure than the old paper-based one:

[The old system had] the potential for forgery and the land registry did not have reliable means of verifying the authenticity of land owners’ signatures or establishing that proper identity checks had been undertaken.

Muir is right. The reality is that modern technology is usually far superior to an “ink and paper” equivalent. Technology can implement mathematically-verifiable encryption and validation methods to confirm certain transactions and events have occurred. The idea that mashed-up pieces of wood stained with ink provides superior integrity and efficiency to a well-designed electronic system is quaint, but plainly wrong. Of course, the key requirement in the previous sentence is “well-designed”. A system with crucial flaws may be completely insecure. Replacing a good paper-based system with a poor electronic one is a recipe for disaster.

Technology is, and for a long time yet will be, subjected to a double standard when compared with a non-technical equivalent. For example, there are thousands of instances of mail stolen from letterboxes, mail-rooms and post offices each year. Generally, none of this is particularly newsworthy. However, if an ISP has some emails “stolen” by a hacker or staff member, it would likely be reported. In the same vein, credit card fraud is common in the physical world, yet often reported with alarm if the same thing happens online.

The recent incident with the e-dealing system highlights this. As Robbie Muir points out:

Given the large volume of land transactions registered each year, there will inevitably be isolated cases where things go wrong. The same was true of the paper-based system. However, under the Landonline system it is possible to quickly establish what has occurred and who is responsible.

Some lawyers I know or have dealt with – young and old – remain curiously uncomfortable, and even suspicious, of email, electronic data, online dealings, and the like. On several occasions I have had lawyers refuse to correspond by email supposedly because of “problems previously encountered” with this new-fangled technology. So I send them emails, and they reply with snail-mail and faxes (yes, in 2010).

A particular hang-up is the occasional insistence on “originals”. Back in the days when important documents were drawn up by hand (really important documents were on goatskin parchment), it was fairly obvious what was the original document, and what was a copy. The need for requiring an original was clearer. And when there is a piece of paper, it is usually easy to tell whether it has been physically signed, photocopied, or had a computer printed signature applied. But with electronic files, concepts such as the “original document” quickly lose meaning, as does the need for an “original” and signing at all. However, a suitable “original” (if insisted upon) can usually be made by printing off a file and signing it. Whether this is necessary at all – other than for “ceremonial” purposes – is questionable.

It comes down to the perceived comfort of having a piece paper – something physical that can be put into a folder and filed in a filing cabinet. But the reality is that digital documents and digital signatures are capable of achieving a much higher level of security than a signature.