Episode 7: The Computermen

 
 
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In 1966, just as the foundations of the Internet were getting dreamed up…

the federal government considered building a National Data Center. It would be a centralized federal facility to hold computer records from each federal agency, in the same way that the Library of Congress holds books and the National Archives holds manuscripts. Proponents argued that it would help regulate and compile the vast quantities of data the government was collecting. Quickly, though, fears about privacy, government conspiracies, and government ineptitude buried the idea. But now, that National Data Center looks like a missed opportunity to create rules about data and privacy before the Internet took off. And in the absence of government action, corporations have made those rules themselves.

Image credit: UCLA and BBN

Key Sources

We used the minutes from these 1966 hearings before the House of Representatives Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, which are titled The Computer and Invasion Of Privacy. 

We also used the recordings of Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony at Senate Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the 2018 Judiciary hearing Facebook, Social Media Privacy, and the Use and Abuse of Data. 

Our actors read letters to Representative Cornelius Gallagher, which can be found by visiting the Cornelius Gallagher Collection at the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, and searching in Box 21, Folders 15 and 16; Box 28, Folder 195; and Box 29, Folder 24.

Our Timmy the Terminal re-creation came from Scenarios for Using the ARPANET at the ICCC, courtesy of the Computer History Museum.

We used a clip from ABC’s coverage of election night, 1972. 

We also used a clip from President Nixon’s resignation address. You can listen to the full speech here. 

We used a clip from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech at an anti-war demonstration at the United Nations in 1967. You can watch the full speech here. 

We used this ad from Nixon’s 1972 campaign.