The United States  Government  is  the  largest computer user in the world.

     Computers  are  used  for  simple  clerical  tasks  through  administrative

     decisions in agencies such as the Census Bureau,  Internal Revenue Service,

     and Federal Bureau of Investigation.  In  order  for  social  and  economic

     programs to  be  effective, it is essential that both suitable and reliable

     data be accessable for planning, most notably population data.  In order to

     fulfill this prerequisite, government  agencies  amass  large quantities of

     personal data for  analysis.   This  vast  collection  of  information  has

     brought rise to the fear that an  individual's  right  to  privacy  may  be

     violated  by  such  governmental  practices, resulting in  harmful  actions
K                                     1K     directed against the individual.


          This concern of governmental agencies invading an individual's privacy

     became  a  national issue in the United States in 1966 when a proposal  was

     put forth by the Bureau  of the Budget to establish a National Data Center.

     The objective of such a data  bank was to improve accuracy, efficiency, and

     economy by consolidating  and  computerizing  data  files  of  the  various

     governmental agencies and bureaux.  The proposed National Data Center would

     be given responsibility for,


               assembling  in a single facility demographic, economic,  and

          social  data  generated  by  present  processes  of  the  Federal

     ----------

     1. C.C. Gotlieb and A. Borodin, Social Issues in Computing (New  York,  New
                                     ______ ______ __ _________
     York: Academic Press, 1973), p.67.



                                        - 2 -
















          Government; integrating data to the maximum extent; and providing

          ready  access   to   information   within   the   laws  governing
K                     2K          disclosure.


          The  NDC  would  also  be  charged  with  assisting  state  and  local

     governments  in  establishing  similar  data  banks  at  their  level   and

     coordinating their data with  the  federal  databank.   Thus,  the  Federal

     Government  would  in  essence  be  able  to  compile  personal  data  into

     individual dossiers.  The very existence of such files  would infringe upon

     one's ability to exercise the right of privacy.


          In actuality, the right to privacy is not a universal law.   There  is

     no legal guarantee  of  "privacy".   In  the United States, this "right" is

     derived from the Constitution and common law  practices which infer that an
K                                          3K     individual has a  claim  to  privacy.    Alan Westin, author of Privacy and
                                                                     _______ ___

     Freedom,  defines  privacy  as  an  individual's  claim  to   control   the
     _______