From 1984 to 1986, the Computer Science and Law Research Group at The University of Quebec at Montreal conducted a socio-legal survey for the Government of Quebec on personal data banks in the private sector of Quebec's economy. The study flowed from a concern for the defence and promotion of individual rights and freedoms, which appeared to be threatened by the growth of relatively unregulated data banks. By furnishing an often confidential computerized double, sophisticated data bases can often give a better picture of individuals than they themselves could provide. Ultimately, decisions affecting individuals and social choices could be taken without any control over their conformity to rules of natural justice and democracy. With these concerns in mind, we studied both the current state of development of such data banks and the state of the law regulating them.