ABSTRACT
Computers have caused a dramatic shift in information access. Up until the early 1980s, it was difficult for private citizens to look up the name, address and phone number of someone hundreds of miles away. Even if they called Directory Assistance, only the phone number, not the street address, was given out by the phone company. Reverse directories that provided a name for a phone number, were hard to find. Now there are dozens of reverse directories on the Internet, and sites that provide phone numbers, ages, occupations, the names of neighbors
and, sometimes, even social security numbers-most of it for free, and the rest for reasonable fees. By searching, one can also find census, obituary, and other private information. Thus, computers allow home users to access information that was once available only to law enforcement personnel and private detectives.
