Protection of Privacy of Computerized Records in the National Crime Information Center

The purpose of this article is to describe the social benefits and costs of the NCIC and to indicate the need for a program of operational controls to temper the system\u27s impact on the balance between individual privacy and law enforcement needs. Various approaches which could be incorporated into a program of safeguards are introduced and briefly analyzed. Finally, the article discusses several overall design issues which should be considered in the construction of an adequate program of safeguards. Particular emphasis is placed on the NCCH file since it is the major source of the tensions underlying the issues addressed

How are Concerns about Errors and Ethics Related to Demands for Information Systems Audits?

What factors affect individuals\u27 demands that information systems (IS) audits are implemented in the organizations with which they do business? Using concepts and constructs from theoretical literature on individuals’ concerns about organizational information management practices, we build a theoretical model that can explain and predict individuals\u27 demand for information systems audit in organizations. Using data from U. S. university students, we empirically test two hypotheses using a multiple regression model. It was found that students’ concern about error in data and their concern about organizational ethics of information management positively affect students’ demand for IS audit at U. S. universities

The narrative and the algorithm: Genres of credit reporting from the nineteenth century to today

Credit reporting is a contested process whereby parties with distinct interests (borrowers, lenders, and intermediaries) jointly construct the form, method, and style of credit assessment. In contrast to theories that argue information should grow more secure and credit relationships more transparent over time, the conflicted struggle over representation produces different styles or “genres” of credit evaluation that are compromises between the interests of the different parties. Thus, in the United States, trade credit reporting in the nineteenth century evolved an enduring narrative reporting style, incorporating heterogeneous forms of information not easily reducible to a single quantitative score. Lack of institutions for sharing information between creditors, legal precedents, and strong resistance among borrowers to overly intrusive surveillance made the narrative report the best means to handle the diverse business credit market. By contrast, lenders in the consumer credit market established information sharing capabilities, which were enhanced after World War II when banks developed the credit card and card verification systems. Fair credit laws in the 1960s and 70s actually reinforced the move to quantitative scoring based on information shared among creditors, eventually institutionalizing the FICO score as the prime method of consumer credit evaluation.credit score; credit reporting; credit; information economy; surveillance; FICO