datacores and datacore editing

[Sorus]

There's another thread by the same name, but I went ahead and started a new one because this is actually an entirely different topic.

I'm not going to copy out the entire ancillary documentation, but if you don't have a copy handy, the highlights are that by law, every human ship has a datacore. Datacores are automatic and permanent logs of 'every decision, every action, every risk, every malfunction, every crisis'.

Not only were the data unalterable, but any attempt
to alter them was unalterably recorded. In effect, this
provided a kind of Write Only Memory: with the proper
UMCP codes, it could be read; but it could never be
rewritten.

Now, we know that this is not true. But with that in mind, what is the point of a ship taking a datacore from another ship? It would retain all the information (whether the other ship was hijacked, destroyed or sold) and wouldn't stand up to inspection. Also, scan and emission signatures seem almost as unique as fingerprints, even if the ship has been significantly altered.

Just some thoughts...

[Usivius]

If I recall, that was the whole paranoia for criminals. If you took a ship, you either had to make sure you were never inspected or could have your data core read. This is why Angus was set free and why everyone in 'the law' was so shocked by how little they found to prosecute him with. Anyone else who had done what he had would have been fried on the spot!!!