The citizens of this Commonwealth are living in a recordkeeping society. They are finding that their opportunities, benefits and rights are being shaped by the contents of records that are being compiled in each area of personal activity (education, employment, credit, taxation, health, government licensing and benefits, law enforcement and so on). During the past two decades the large, personal records systems of most governmental agencies and private organizations have become computerized. As a result, fears have been expressed that these automated personal data systems are having a fundamental effect on our free society. And on the personal level, individuals are finding that they are significantly hampered in their attempts to affect the contents or usage or even discover the existence of many of the personal records systems which surround them.

These concerns, among others, prompted the General Assembly in 1974 to adopt a resolution directing the Virginia Advisory Legislative Council to study this matter of computer privacy and security and report its recommendations for legislation.