Human and organizational implications of computer privacy

ABSTRACT

The computer was created to serve man. With increasing reason serious questions are being raised pertaining to the potential misuse of the computer. Specifically, the issue of privacy has come to the public's attention as cherished liberties and psychological needs are gradually being eroded as the technology of the computer expands.

Recent discoveries have shown how men desiring power can utilize data for their own benefit, leaving the person intruded upon with little recourse, or for that matter, any knowledge of the invasion into his private world.

This paper identifies the many implications of loss of privacy on man's ego, dignity and general ability to cope with these forces. Failure to possess privacy can lead to withdrawal, loss of productivity, lack of confidence, physiological deterioration and other conditions of mental and physical decline.

A significant portion of this paper details the protections that can be incorporated, primarily technical, to preserve the balance between the need for society to know and the need of the individual to remain independent. The basic conditions for man's well-being are being tested along with the foundations of our governmental traditions.