Article Title

Your Life as an Open Book: Has Technology Rendered Personal Privacy Virtually Obsolete?

Authors

Sandra Byrd Peterson, Indiana University School of Law

Document Type

Note

Publication Date

12-1995

Publication Citation

48 Federal Communications Law Journal 163 (1995)

Abstract

As society becomes increasingly automated, the ability of individuals to protect their "information privacy" is practically nonexistent. Information that was once kept on paper in filing cabinets is now on-line in computer databases. At the touch of a computer key, a complete stranger can conveniently access and compile from a variety of different sources a dossier of intimate, personal information about people without their knowledge. Perhaps more shocking is the current lack of legal recourse available to contest the nonconsensual use of personal data.

In this Note, the Author examines the currently loose constitutional and common-law protections and suggests strategies litigants could utilize to create protection of information privacy. The Author argues that congressional action provides the most effective way to restrain the invasion of information privacy.

Recommended Citation

Peterson, Sandra Byrd (1995) "Your Life as an Open Book: Has Technology Rendered Personal Privacy Virtually Obsolete?," Federal Communications Law Journal: Vol. 48: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj/vol48/iss1/7