Is privacy a big issue--what with electronic funds transfer, and automated tellers and all?

The issue of privacy is, in my opinion, one of the most pressing issues in the United States today. Justice Brandeis, writing in the Harvard Law Review, once said that the right most valued by civilized man is the right to be let alone. I don't think that's changed. But the way this country is going now, it's the last right that anybody pays attention to.

One problem is that the computer has been confused with privacy. Actually, the computer is more private than the old paper-based files. In the old days, when I worked in a bank branch, you just went up to the credit file and opened the drawer, and looked at anything you wanted to. To get at today's computers you need a special code. That provides immediate, first-line control.

What makes computers ominous for some people is that computer discs have the capability of storing in one place an enormous amount of information. So, it's not the technology itself, but the fact that it is all in one place.

Then there's the question of who should have access to it. I agree that's a crucial point. Just to give you an example, there was a bad Supreme Court decision recently that said that the Internal Revenue Service can come in with a hunting license and browse through your bank records. I think that's wrong.

We adopted the policy that if we get a subpoena, we immediately inform the customer, and I think that's proper. A lot of hunting licenses went out with that court decision. It's a serious problem that everybody should worry about.