NO SECRETS ANY MORE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67B00446R000300210001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 5, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 25, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

APRIL 25, 1965
STAT
Operator aims electronic-gun listening device at conversation'in,street below,-picks up every word.
C
is becoming a rat
ii iectronwc gaagets have. 2n
are rapidly reaching the point where the
co , pang that hires a man knows too much
abo t him," says E. A. Butler, one of Amer-
ica's remost management consultants.'
alneeasin
ing up every word you say from 500 feet away.
Either of these electronic snoopers can be
obtained through the mail by any private citizen,
for less than $25. But let us assume. your neigh
at ton of snooping parapher- bors are not interested in you. Suppose, in,?tead,
right of privacy o the individt
says Senator Edward V. Long of
the neighbor next door may' have, just for kicks, 3. Next may come a series of psychological tests which
attached a small listening device to his side of . first assess your aptitudes, and then probe deeper, in
your living room wall. Or if you are enjoying your ' search of personality problems. Depending on the
suburban patio, another neighbor may be aiming vagaries and prejudices of the psychologist, you may
a gadget
CAtti4cl 1%9 P*rteae~~o be labledan',;
privacy. But as you loll in your assumed security, . pay dishonesty you ever committed.
constitutional you have applied for a job with a company that
en in peril," is security-conscious or believes devoutly in psy
"The use of persona on job-seekers, tinct threats to your privacy:
J., of Scranton Uni-
p ~
y
i
hb
V pre
.
your ne
g
orhood,
versity, "poses a growing danger. Employers have asking friends. if they have ever seen you - drunk,
no right to ask a man not merely to sell his labor, checking on your spending habits, asking the milkman
but the inner secrets of his being." and hairdresser if your wife is faithful, snapping
These three men are all worried about one thing: telescopic-lens pictures of your whole fancily.
the terrifying loss of privacy in American life.
. Sitting at home in your apartment or in your 2. You uttll be invited to take a lie-detector test, in
house, you ,may scoff: no ,one is invading my ttitich you will have to dredge up and confess every,
Continued
ILLEGIB
 rowr u rre nt p Ss t~SNrB} t to[ cue ~ h _Vt find out
o i sel "~. oYrleDt t~n die d"ina y ab out asman?
These tests are not reserved for executives. 'during the pre-hiring investigation he won't hire
Would-be milkmen and clerks are taking them. him. Even if he's broadminded enough to give,
Some 60 per cent of all American companies use him a chance, knowing some secret of his new
them regularly. For the executive, of course, the 'employee's private life makes the boss nervous
prying is more intense. He must often submit to and suspicious. If the man's job- performance.
a face-to-face interview with the company psy- slips, for whatever reason, he is fired. I've seen
chologist, in which his sex life, has feelings about more companies lose more men this way - good
his wife, his political opinions Are explored in men they needed and really wanted to keep."
'detail. Meanwhile, more snoopers are asking Another problem seldom considered by the
former employers about him and interrogating, higher-ups who read the reports is the reliability,,
his college and high-school teachers. not of the electronic devices, but of the human
Wired washrooms 'reporters.
Too many snoopers' reports are full of half
Once all these hurdles are cleared, can you baked information. And under the present sys-
relax and feel Big Brother is no longer watching? ten, a vindictive neighbor or former business
-By no means. In company after company, and in associate can drop a noose of vicious lies around.
almost every department of the government) your neck and you can only hope that the man'
electronic snooping is a favorite device of the reading the report will detect the odor of malice.'
insecure boss, who wants to find out who is - In one study of such reports, one out of every four'.
"loyal." Offices are bugged, phones are tapped, was deroghtory in regard to a man's performance:
even washrooms are wired for sound. on a previous job - a grim indication of how.:
The bill for all this is an estimated one billion often envy is substituted for truth.
dollars a year. All of these investigations - by private de-'
The recent Senate investigation headed by ? tective, electronic snooper and psychological tests'
Senator Long revealed that the Federal govern- - have one thing in common, and that is invasion
ment was the largest single customer for electronic of our privacy. Yet, there is an even greater
listening devices - and this did'','rtot include any danger to our civilization, aside from that posed:
equipment purchased by the CIA and FBI. to: our civil liberties, the danger of the reduction of
Long is especially perturbed by the growing 'everyone and everything to mediocrity. Constant,
sophistication of the bugging devices. Miniaturi- surveillance and psychological testing will in
zation has reached the point where microphones evitably tend to make people keep daring thoughts'
can be concealed by atie clasp, cuff links, a and ideas to themselves and stay in the safe, dull,
fountain pen. One tiny electronic ear snuggles middle of, the road.
into the base of a standard office stapling ma Down with daring
chine. Even'more alarming are gadgets that can
'be hidden in or near your phone. If this should happen, we would be turning
our backs on some of our greatest industrial, tech-,
A bugged hearing room nical and scientific geniuses, many of whom have,
On the first day of his hearings, Senator Long been men with unorthodox opinions and ideas. No,
dramatized the situation by hiring two private one really knows what makes a great executive,-'
eyes, who bugged the hearing room. After a half inventor or scientist, and the idea that investiga-
hour of testimony, the witness opened his inno- tion and invasion of privacy will find them cer
cent-looking attache case, pressed a button, a$d a tainly seems open to doubt. It's the imaginative'
conceal c' tape recorder played back everything individuals who can create new products, processes.'
that had been said. and technology.
Senator Long is worried about the possibility The solution to the snooping plague must
that our electronic ingenuity is moving us closer come from two directions.' First, the federal
and closer. to a. 1984 police state. As a, moral government must pass laws limiting the sale and
philosopher and author.of "Ethics in Business,"' use of electronic bugs, lie detectors and similar
Father Garrett is concerned about the spiritual, Privacy invaders to law-enforcement agencies.:
implications of privacy invasion. "We have tended:. Even here, the courts must keep a watchful eye.
,to talk about privacy as a political right," Father Second, businessmen must quit prying into.,
Garrett says. `But it is also a natural right, some- the .minds and pasts of their :employees. They
;thing that flows from the nature of man. Take it must realize the ultimate futility of this mania'---
;away and you. have violated a man's integrity." and stop it voluntarily before damage to our
One slip and you're through national spirit becomes irreparable.. ( me LND )
Management consultant Butler is aroused in
a more practical way. He is convinced that, our
mania for personal prying has reached a point of
,no return. "I have rarely met a creative execu
tive, particularly in the sales end,. who was not'
.unconventional in,some,way- :. '..::...
APR 2 5 1965 Approved' For Release 2003/12/02 ; CIA-RDP67B00446R000300210001-5