41 min

The Computermen The Last Archive

    • History

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

In 1966, just as the foundations of the Internet were being imagined, 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.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1966, just as the foundations of the Internet were being imagined, 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.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

41 min

Top Podcasts In History

The Rest Is History
Goalhanger Podcasts
History's Secret Heroes
BBC Radio 4
American Scandal
Wondery
Everything Everywhere Daily
Gary Arndt | Glassbox Media
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Dan Carlin
Throughline
NPR

More by Pushkin Industries

Deep Cover: The Nameless Man
Pushkin Industries
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
Pushkin Industries
Revisionist History
Pushkin Industries
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Pushkin Industries
Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond
Pushkin Industries
The Last Archive
Pushkin Industries