On the Record : Surveillance, Computers and Privacy

By Duncan Campbell & Steve Conner

Year: 1986 Pub: Michael Joseph

Synopsis

This book is about the major databanks which hold personal records on large portion of the British people – and the wide spectrum of threats they pose to individual privacy.  Most such databanks are in the public sector, belonging to central government departments and the police – and many will be exempt from provisions of the new Data Protection Act.

On the Record combines exceptionally authoritative research with conclusions drawn from disturbing case studies. Campbell and Conner produce a wealth of evidence to support their claim that, by the year 2000, there will be a government central computer network recording the name, current address, date of birth, identity number, family relationships and many other more sensitive, and sometimes inaccurate, particulars of virtually the entire population.