Sargent Foresees Data Posing Threat To Privacy Rights

Francis W. Sargent, former governor of Massachusetts and follow of the Institute of Policies, said Saturday that unrestrained governmental and private record keeping are threatening America's "most fundamental right" to privacy.

Addressing a crowd of about 90 at an American Bar Association conference of law students at the Law School. Sargent said most data gathering activities may be well-intentioned.

But he said a citizen may become less willing "to stick his neck out" and give the government information if the information may be used against him.

Sargent said that the existence of electronic surveillance equipment may have detrimental effects on the subconscious.

Big Brother

"If you think big brother is everywhere, then it matters not if he exists at all," Sargent said. "People will modify their behavior toward the institutions in control of the files."

Sargent said recent disclosures regarding the Nixon Administration, the CIA and the FBI, have shown that the need to protect the right to personal privacy has never been greater.

"Today, many Americans are justifiably worried that the very government which is supposed to defend and protect us has decided that we are the enemy," he said.

Sargent urged the law students to become involved in the development of a privacy law that would "strike a balance between democracy and technology" and strengthen protection guaranteed under the Constitution.