Letter of Transmittal

The Title Page

Example of a Title Page

       DATA SURVEILLANCE:  The Threat to Personal Privacy






                               by 
                             Sandra
                          Blickenstaff









                          Submitted To:
                        Rep. Pat Roberts
                     United States Congress









                         Date Submitted:
                          July 23, 1984

Table of Contents

Example of a Table of Contents

                        TABLE OF CONTENTS


INTRODUCTION....................................................1

  Purpose.......................................................1

  Problem.......................................................1

  Scope.........................................................1


THE CONCEPT OF PRIVACY..........................................2

  Privacy is a Basic Need.......................................2

  Privacy in Modern Society.....................................3

  A Definition of Privacy.......................................3

  The Importance of Privacy.....................................3   


DATA SURVEILLANCE...............................................4

  Government Agencies...........................................4

    The IRS.....................................................5

    The FBI.....................................................6

    The Census Bureau...........................................6

  Private Industries............................................7

    Credit Bureaus..............................................7

    Banks.......................................................8


CONCLUSIONS.....................................................9

  The Threat to Privacy.........................................9

  The Impacts on Society........................................9


RECOMMENDATIONS................................................11

List of Illustrations

If you have used tables or figures, you should list them in a separate table of contents called the list of illustrations. This list, like the table of contents, has its title at the top and the names of illustrations along the left column with page numbers to the right. However, a list of illustrations is divided into two parts. The first subpart lists all the tables you have used in the report. The second subpart lists all the figures (any graphs, drawings, or photographs) you have used.

Abstract or Executive Summary

Example of an Abstract

ABSTRACT

This report is about personal privacy and computerized information. The report is broken onto five main parts: The introduction, the concept of privacy, data surveillance, conclusions, and recommendations.

The introduction attempts to identify the problems of privacy that now exist. The rapid growth of computerized information has caused the Privacy Act of 1974 to become obsolete. There are definite gaps in the existing privacy laws. The focus of this report is data surveillance, the practice of accumulating, interpreting, and basing conclusions on computerized personal data. The report specifically looks into the IRS, the FBI, the Census Bureau, credit Bureaus, and banks.

The first section deals with the concept of privacy. It is important to understand privacy in order to understand the implications of this report. Privacy is a basic human need that is present in virtually every society. Privacy means the right to control personal information. The right to decide who knows what. Privacy is very important in a democratic society. Without privacy, the democratic process is likely to fall apart. Lack of privacy is often used as a means of control over citizens under tolatarian governments.

Data surveillance studies three government agencies and two private industries. These five were chosen because they represent both the largest data bases and the most serious threat to personal privacy.

It is estimated that the federal government maintains an average of fifteen files on each American. The IRS is currently buying computerized lists of information from private industries. They are using computer matching techniques to help them detect tax fraud. The information on these lists is often very personal or sensitive. The majority of the FBI's files can be accessed by police across the country. The threat here is the investigative lists and sensitive information the FBI is now attempting to computerize. The Census Bureau is the only government agency whose primary purpose is to gather information. They probably have the most sensitive personal information but they also have the best record of protecting it.

Credit bureaus have files on over 150,000,000 Americans. TRW, a large credit bureau, refuses to take any responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Banks are seen by many to be the most serious threat to privacy. Confidentiality is a myth in banking. The banks records are routinely seen by both government and private investigators. The proposal of a real-time funds transfer system is especially ominous, used for the wrong purpose it could become a very effective surveillance system.

References are a list of all the outside sources used in the report. Different disciplines use different reference systems. For instance, some use the MLA format, some the APA format, and some the Chicago style. Technical reports, however, often use a numbering system. The first citation to appear is reference one, and the second is reference two and so on. The number appears on the page where the citation appears (right after the cite) and then again on the reference page, which appears at the end of the report.

Example of a Reference Page

Appendices