The privacy laws are hard put to keep abreast of the explosion in computerized information peddling. . . . The case of Network Electronic Tracking, a company now being prosecuted for selling quick checks of background information that appears to have been pillaged from government files, may clarify one patch of a still-spreading gray area on transactions of this nature.
The so-called ”information broker” is accused of doing something that, if true, is clearly illegal-charging fees of as little as $50 to private customers for simple criminal or credit checks on the latter`s prospective clients or employees, and using those fees to bribe those with access to restricted files to produce the desired information. . . .
No one has legally challenged now-commonplace practices such as magazines` selling and swapping lists of their subscribers . . . or credit bureaus` use of computer information gleaned from official files. But the suspicions of an ”inside job” on Social Security and FBI files show how far out of control the opposite extreme can get. Localities are still wrangling over the role of telephone companies, for instance, in scanning clients`
calling patterns so as to offer them new services. The privacy right, already a matter of hot constitutional dispute, begs for clarification in this arena as well.
