On Record: Files/Dossiers - Ppr: Files and Dossiers in American Life

American society keeps vast records on its members. From birth to death, the various or-ganizations through which a person passes re-cord much about his achievements and failings, his strengths and weaknesses. These files are often used to make crucial decisions regarding an individual, and thus may have a fateful im-pact on his life. Yet, despite the importance of record-keeping, there have been few objective analyses of how this process is conducted. On Record provides descriptive accounts of record-keeping in.a variety of important organi-zations: schools and universities; consumer credit agencies, general business organizations, and life insurance companies; military and se-curity agencies; the Census Bureau and the So-cial Security Administration; public welfare agencies, juvenile courts, and mental hospitals. It also examines the legal status of records. The authors address questions such as: Who determines what records are kept? Who has access to the records? To what extent do the records follow an individual after he has left the setting in which they were gathered? What are some of the dangers and pitfalls in record-keeping? Throughout the authors show a con-cern for an appropriate balance between the need for information about people and protec-tion against undue invasions of privacy.