You are dealing with two issues: the right of the archives to create biographical files (just like libraries create vertical files) and the right of an individual to privacy. Given our society's numerous laws granting living individuals the right to remove themselves from telephone books, city directories, to redact certain items from online databases, and the like, I would say that the individual and their lawyer could probably make a good case. I do believe theft of the file was indeed theft, and I would tell her to return it. If she says you are not to have a file on her, then I would remove it (and probably from public access rather than destruction). Yes, any archives/library can create a biographical file on someone, but then there is the political risk that the person may not want this. Dean Dean DeBolt University Librarian, Special Collections John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514-5750 850-474-2213 [log in to unmask] A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>