Personal information is valuable... when it is formatted in easy-to-access types of information. Does anyone know what software they use to store the information? After seeing their website I have serious doubts that they would store the information in any usable format.
I'm not worried about the JWs having my information. There are so many groups mining the personal information from people in so many ways (facebook, phone data, etc.) that I find it impossible to really care that they have my information. You know the government already has 'records' on us, no matter what government you are under. I am certain that the IRS and the FBI have records on me already... and so far... there hasn't been a single reason to get all hyper about it. I can't stop it. I can't stop it being shared. And what does it really do to me? It hurts my credit score which is already so far in the crapper that additional information is merely annoying because they insist on reminding me of it.
So... this seems like a big deal to a lot of people, but I just don't see any reason to worry about it. I definitely do not care if they have a record on me. They have no power over me and keeping records on me only fills up their paper/digital files. It doesn't hurt me in the least.
And as to being a whistle blower... if I can be scared away by them having kept personal information on me, then I have no right to be a whistle-blower. You have to have a hard shell and hard skin if you are going to call a powerful group to the floor. You better be ready for them to fight dirty. They might even make stuff up. It is way better to acknowledge that they fight dirty and have your answer ready to defend yourself against that kind of crap behavior. Them keeping records makes them look bad, especially if they keep records on people who grew up in their organization. That is all kinds of creepy.
So where does the Freedom of Information Act fall into all of this. My understanding is that if the Information Act applies to a group, they can't deny you access to your records but they can charge you for the copies they send you.