History of data protection: 1972

Key developments

🇩🇪 On 1972 was officially made available to the German Bundestag the very influential data protection study ‘Grundfragen des Datenschutzes‘ by Steinmüller, Lutterbeck, Malimann, Harbort, Kolb & Schneider, which had been completed in July 1971.
🇬🇧 In the United Kingdom, the Committee on Privacy generally known as the ‘Younger Committee’, chaired by Kenneth Younger, presented its report (Cmnd 5012). It found no evidence that the use of computers by the private sector constituted a threat to privacy, but recommended the setting up of a body with representatives from the computer industry to monitor the evolution, and to recommend action if necessary. In February, the House of Commons discussed a bill on Control of Personal Information.

Also this year

🇸🇪 In Sweden is published the report Data och integritet.
🇩🇪 On 29 March 1972 took place for the first time ever the presentation of an annual report of a Data Protection Authority (DPA) to a local parliament, submitted by the Datenschutzbeauftragter of the Land of Hesse to the Land’s parliament: Tätigskeitbericht LfD Hessen 1971/72 (7/1495 vom 29.03.1972).
The ministers gathered at the 7th Conference of European Ministers of Justice of the Council of Europe, from 15 to 18 May 1972, in Basel, adopt a Resolution on the protection of privacy in view of the increasing compilation of personal data into computers.
🇳🇱 In the Netherlands is established a Government Committee on the Protection of. Privacy in Personal Data Registration (Royal Decree No 70 of 21. February 1972). It will be chaired by T. Koopmans.
🇺🇸 In Chicago, the police raided the apartments of the Jane Collective, an underground group helping women who were seeking abortion. in the police van, the arrested women ripped the names of the cards with the patients’ contact info, and swallowed them.

Literature

Bancroft, T. A. (1972), ‘The Statistical Community and the Protection of Privacy’, The American Statistician, 26(4), 13-16.
Beatty, John F. (1972), ‘Privacy and Computers: An Undefined Program‘, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 7(3), 659-665.
Blanck, Lars Jakob (1972), The first International Oslo Symposium on Data Banks and Society : The Proceedings, Universitetsforlaget °.
Canadian Department of Communications and Department of Justice (1972, reprinted in 1974), Privacy and Computers: Report of a Task Force established jointly by Department of Communications/Department of Justice.
DeBalogh, Frank G. (1972), ‘Public Administrators and “The Privacy Thing”: A Time to Speak Out’, Public Administration Review 32(5) (Sep. – Oct., 1972), 526-530.
Gellman, H. S. (1972), Electronic banking systems and their effects on privacy: A study for the Privacy and Computers Task Force, Canada, Department of Communication.

International Commission of Jurists (1972), The protection of privacy, UNESCO.
Miller, Arthur R. (1972), ‘Computers, Data Banks and Individual Privacy: An Overview’, Columbia Human Rights Law Review 4, 1-12.
Podlech, Adalbert (1972), ‘Review of Informationskrise des Rechts und Datenverarbeitung Spiros Simitis‘, Rabels Zeitschrift Für Ausländisches Und Internationales Privatrecht / The Rabel Journal of Comparative and International Private Law 36(2), 397–398.
Rowe, B. C., (ed.) (1972), Privacy, Computers and You, The National Computing Centre Limited.
Soskolne, C. L. (1972), ‘Privacy and Data Banks‘, Humanitas 3(1), 37-45.
Turn, Rein, and Norman Z. Shapiro (1972), ‘Privacy and security in databank systems: Measures of effectiveness, costs, and protector-intruder interactions‘, in Proceedings of the December 5-7, 1972, Fall Joint Computer Conference, Part I, 435-444.
Weizenbaum, Joseph (1972), ‘On the impact of the computer on society: How does one insult a machine?‘, Science 176(4035), 609-614.

Watch

In the media

‘Controls on data-banks sought in U.K. report’, Press, CXII, 32971, 18 July 1972, 12.
‘Ignorance, over-reaction about computer use’, Press, CXII, 32985, 3 August 1972, 3.
‘Good and harm’ in computer bank‘, Press, CXII, 32998, 18 August 1972, 8.
Darnton, John, ‘Data Bank Peril Heed Overrated’, The New York Times, 12 October 1972.
‘Dubious data‘, The New York Times, 20 October 1972.
‘Threat to privacy in America‘, Press, CXII, 11 November 1972, 12.
‘Attitude to computer‘, Press, CXII, 33078, 20 November 1972, 15.