[Informatics] The importance of unique ID fields. A real-life database horror story.

[Mark]

Hi, fully-normalised readers

If you're ever tempted to use a multiple-field key, such as

*FamilyName *+ *MiddleName* + *GivenName* + *DateOfBirth*

as a primary key.

*Don't.*

Not only will you introduce potential 2NF problems, but you can really mess
up people's lives.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/03/identity-theft-racial-justice

-- 

Mark Kelly

mark at vceit.com
http://vceit.com

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