Stolen Databases

Jorge Chabat checks in on last week's big story about Mexicans' personal info being sold illegally in Mexico City:

The possession of this information by criminals is in and of itself a very serious threat to the security of each and every Mexican. Access to said information opens the door to a wide variety of extortions by criminals. That's why it's not unusual that in some cases of kidnapping and extortion, criminals declare with conviction that they know where their victims, or their families, live and and they can take revenge at any moment that they want. And it's probably true. Certainly, a world is watching is ... and it's the world of crime.

[Break]

The question in the air is if after this scandal the authorities will do anything. And the truth is that on this point it's hard to be optimistic. The investigative ability of the justice departments is more than in doubt. From the case of the two "blonds" in the kidnapping and murder of Fernando Martí to the death of the little girl Paulette Gebara whose cadaver suddenly "appeared" as though from an unknown dimension, the panorama that our insistence on justice produces is pathetic. Before such a backdrop, what we will surely see is more distrust when Mexicans provide personal info, until the point at which every Mexican uses identifications that don't contain a single accurate piece of info. A great advance.