H.L. Mencken wrote that politicians are mostly interested in conjuring up some plausible hobgoblin, then announcing an array of Government programs to safeguard a grateful electorate. Well, privacy may be a hobgoblin that doesn't require any political conjuring. The worries one hears now about the threats posed by the marriage of computers and communications are hardly new. President Nixon in 1974, after all, created a national privacy protection study commission, chaired by then-Vice President Gerald Ford.
Several things are worth noting.
Second, the real question isn't whether there'll be rules, regulations, or more laws, but rather who's planning to enforce them and how. We could, in theory, balloon the bureaucracy to handle all the privacy concerns and complaints likely to be engendered by more people, more computers, and more worries. Alternatively, maybe the American Trial Lawyers Association needs a new tort to pursue. No matter which option is picked, however, it could get dicey. Take medical records.