Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: California privacy legislation
From: David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 12:13:02 -0500
From: "Gillmor, Dan" <DGillmor () sjmercury com> Reply-To: farber () cis upenn edu To: "'David Farber '" <farber () cis upenn edu> Subject: California privacy legislation Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 07:14:16 -0800 http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/columns/gillmor/docs/dg032800.htm NOT too long ago, someone I know well suffered that most modern of crimes, identity theft. A crook got hold of useful information -- including her Social Security number -- and used it to create a fraudulent identity. The victim discovered the fraud when bills started coming in for things she hadn't bought. Then ``I got letters from lawyers saying they were suing me because I hadn't paid,'' she says. The onus was on her to make things right with credit bureaus, financial institutions and the like -- and the paperwork was massive. This kind of outrage is all too common. American businesses are all too casual with our Social Security numbers and other information. Greasing the wheels of commerce has been far, far more important than protecting people's privacy. Law enforcement, meanwhile, believes it has better things to do than investigate, much less prosecute, such crimes. But you can almost feel privacy gaining strength as a public issue. The Internet Age has opened people's eyes, because people are beginning to see the consequences when all kinds of data ends up in databases that are open to anyone with sufficient cash. Not many legislators -- federal, state or local -- have grasped the growing public angst until recently. One of several in the California Legislature who understood the issue early is state Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, who has introduced several bills that would go a long way toward protecting you and me from predatory data practices. ...
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- IP: California privacy legislation David Farber (Mar 28)