Privacy and the computer age

By the year 2000, Americans could have computers and robots in the home-and virtually no privacy. This prediction is part of the discussions of the Commission On The Year 2000, which were published in the summer issue of Daedalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.1 The implications of this technological attack on privacy are reflected in the increasing interest in the protection of this vital right. The computer-electronics industry has recognized this issue, and has addressed itself to it on many occasions, including many professional gatherings.2 Businessmen are also concerned with the inherent implications,3 and many governmental agencies are studying the possibility of controls of some type. The Federal Communications Commission, for example, has initiated a public inquiry into the computer-communications interface.4 One of the specific items of response to the FCC inquiry is ``privacy and security.''