Privacy is defined and its various social implications discussed in the first part of this paper. The effect of a National Data Center (NDC) and computerized dossiers about people and their past is also considered. It is determined that a computerized information system would present at least four distinct problems to individual identity or self-image. First, a person's self-identity may either be reinforced if the information agrees with the individual's perception, or it may conflict if the information is not in agreement or inaccurate. The second problem involves the extent an individual may rely on his files in constructing his self-identity. The third problem inherent within the schemata to develop a NDC is the depersonalizing effect associated with the use of computers. The fourth crises to personal identity would be presented by the capability of computers to perform inferential relational retrieval and interpretation. Reasons which have been cited as justification of the need and benefit of constructing a NDC are also considered, including McLuhan's attitude toward privacy as presented in his theory of the "Global Village." (LL)