Invasion of privacy: Huckfield foiled

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32612, 21 May 1971, Page 9

Invasion of privacy: Huckfield foiled

(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) 1 LONDON, May 20. A Labour member of the House of Commons, Mr Leslie Huckfield, has failed for a second time ' to have his Control of ] Personal Information i Bill debated by the i House. ' <

Pressure on the Commons to push ahead and a backlog of other private bills, have left no time for discussion of Mr Huckfield’s measure, which would place controls on the storage of persona) information in computers, and the use to which such information is put. But Mr Huckfield says that he intends to pursue his campaign to safeguard privacy, and that the bill, or a version of it, will be kept before Parliament.

Meanwhile, a British Broadcasting Corporation television programme, “Invasion of Privacy —• A Report on Life in the Data Bank Society,” has illustrated some of the problems of the growing proliferation of computers. It showed that while a computer might save one’s

life by summoning doctors, blood banks and the like in time of need, it could be misused to reduce one’s privacy or to unfairly influence one’s life. It emphasised that the trouble with building a fair code of practice for computers was that to build in adequate safeguards against misuse would inevitably cost money and perhaps years of delay in development.

i Besides the problem of its ; possible misuse, the other : principal disadvantage of the f computer was its inability to , handle a non-conformist. i The programme cited the I case of a young American, , extremely keen to join the Navy, who was refused admission by a computer i which disclosed that he had been fined four times; it had not been able to understand that the fines were for park- , ing offences. The young man then tried , to join the Army, which | accepted his parking offences but rejected him because its . computer found out that he , had been rejected by another , 1 service—the Navy. “This man is now going round the country, using his | talents to protest against i , computer services,” a pro- ; i gramme commentator said.