FC: Congressional panel targets new privacy threat: Genealogy

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[I'm now in Key West, and will be participating in a conference here 
through the weekend. I've ordered an underwater camera, the Epoque, from 
B&H Photo (in NYC, great camera store), which will arrive tomorrow. Images 
will be up on mccullagh.org in a week or so. --Declan]


http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36442,00.html

   New Privacy Threat: Genealogy?
   by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)

   3:00 p.m. May. 18, 2000 PDT
   Just when you thought there was nothing new to say about the oft-cited
   privacy threats that Americans face, along comes Congress with another
   worry: genealogy.

   During a privacy hearing Thursday before a House Judiciary
   subcommittee, Rep. Ed Pease (R-Ind.) said the growing number of
   websites that allow people to trace their families' history was a
   threat that called for legislative action.

   "There are some commercial ventures now providing information on this
   subject ... oftentimes genealogical information involves a mother's
   maiden name, and that is often used by many as a password," Pease
   said.

   Genealogy.com, for instance, says it has 470 million names in its
   database. It allows you to search someone's family tree using their
   full or partial name.

   Clinton administration representatives -- who were planning to testify
   before the panel about cookies and industry self-regulation -- were
   caught completely off-guard by Pease's comments.

   "This is not really anything I've heard about yet," replied Andrew
   Pincus, general counsel to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

   "We're dealing mainly with commercial sites, and not these," said
   Jodie Bernstein, director of the bureau of consumer protection at the
   Federal Trade Commission.

   Pease shot back that "a growing number of commercial ventures"
   provided such potentially troubling information and he'd "sure
   appreciate" it if the FTC would investigate.

   To survive a free speech challenge, any legal restrictions Congress
   imposes would have to comply with the First Amendment, which limits
   government controls on publications and websites.

   [...remainder snipped...]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology
To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------