Re: home land tracker software

[Paul Schmehl <pauls () utdallas edu>]

--On Friday, February 6, 2004 6:52 PM +0000 DAN MORRILL <dan_20407 () msn com> 
wrote:

> http://www.ofaccompliance.com/
>
> anyone want to debate the ethics of this

The ethics of what?  Making publicly available information easy to access?

> and the US Patriot act and how
> to secure the system when it is in use or misuse?

Use and misuse of what?  The ability to access publicly information?  I'm 
afraid I don't see what the problem is.

> You can check our own
> name at the web site, as well as more popular folks.

Well, I tried my name, WIlliam R. Murray and William Gates.  Got nothing 
back.  Maybe I did something wrong?  I *did* get hits on Osama bin Laden 
and Mustafa Mohammed, but that's not exactly a startling revelation.

> As an information
> security person, this worries me. Both from a compliance issue
> (corporate) and on a personal issue.
Why?  I can look you up in the phone book.  I can look you up online in 
numerous search engines.  I can contact someone who knows you and find out 
more about you.  I really don't understand what the problem is.

Now, if they were publishing your bank account information, *that* would be 
a problem.

> Additional reading US Patriot act, section 326.
>
> All information security related ideas welcome, flames to
> /dev/null/blackhole/no-read-access
>
> My question is : what were they thinking?
Ease of use?  Quick access to information that could be life saving?

Paul Schmehl (pauls () utdallas edu)
Adjunct Information Security Officer
The University of Texas at Dallas
AVIEN Founding Member
http://www.utdallas.edu

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