NCJ Number
80426
Date Published
1979
Length
96 pages
Annotation
This monograph summarizes the recommendations of the Privacy Protection Study Commission established by the Privacy Act of 1974, explores arguments for and against the initiatives it proposed, and discusses privacy protection for sensitive business information.
Abstract
Problems in defining privacy are first examined, followed by a review of existing Federal privacy protection measures. An overview of the Privacy Protection Study Commission's recommendations notes that it advocated the creation of an independent Federal Privacy Board, but sought to allow the individual to serve as a check on unreasonable demands for information and unreasonable methods of collection rather than regulate the collection of information. A discussion of issues arising from the commission's proposals begins with whether the Federal or State Government should be responsible for regulation. Proponents of greater privacy protection base their concerns on the increasing use of computers while others feel that this approach could ultimately interpret almost any communication about an individual as a potential invasion of privacy. Other controversial areas addressed include the costs of regulation, limits that additional privacy laws could place on fraud investigations and law enforcement, and tensions between the information needs of government and individual privacy. Although the commission did not deal directly with the privacy rights or expectations of commercial firms for their sensitive materials, businessmen have noticed a movement toward greater government access to and disclosure of sensitive business information. Implications of this trend for business competition and government contracting are analyzed. The report then considers additional aspects of the commission's recommendations, including the Federal Privacy Board, the rights of applicants for public assistance, consumer credit records, electronic fund transfers, employment records, government access to personal records, the information practices of private insurance companies, medical records, student records, social security numbers, and tax information. Tables summarizing the commission's recommendations are appended, along with 131 footnotes.