Someone asked me to weigh in on this thread from a legal perspective. If these forms have been discontinued in the U.S., I don't think it's due to fear of liability under any privacy or data collection laws. There is nothing illegal in the U.S. about collecting an address along with any information that a person voluntarily discloses, such as name, contact info, etc. This is especially so considering that they are not stored in a central database, but typically just retained in the file of whoever personally collected the information. There is an increasing amount of litigation over unwanted phone/email correspondence, but that wouldn't apply in the case of someone who turns over that information person-to-person and then is contacted. I can’t see any connection between this and “Obamacare” either.
I would guess that this is due to an overall strategy to reduce the appearance of central control over the "preaching" work. They certainly don't want to be on the hook for an agent/servant relationship arising for any liability incurred by individual JWs in field service. This could include anything from vehicle damage/personal injury to physical/sexual assault allegations to trespassing charges. The less individual JWs use WTBTS forms as they go about preaching, that's one less piece of evidence for courts to use to find that the WTBTS is vicariously liable for any acts of individual JWs. WTBTS surely wants the spin that all preaching is organized and directed at the congregation/individual level.
As for other countries, I can’t offer much insight on legal reasons for pulling these forms. As others have said, privacy laws tend to be stricter outside of the U.S.
