The danger of informational abuse did not await the computer. The Dutch example serves to illustrate a further point. No legal system can provide absolute security against external threats. Abstinence from record keeping is the only certain safeguard. Although this will seldom be a practical or desirable option, an assessment requires to be made of the level of risk and of any security measures which may be available.
Any record keeping involves the subject giving a hostage to fortune.
The second example serves to raise the issue which is central to much of the debate in the area. Certainly, information supplied for one purpose was put to another use, but the obligation to register for military service was prescribed by law. The military authorities were attempting to enforce the law whilst the unregistered ice cream addicts were in breach of it. Such an analysis may be considered unduly simplistic. Only a proportion of those whose details were disclosed would have been in breach of the law.