IP: Uncle Sam Has All Your Numbers

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From: "the terminal of Geoff Goodfellow" <geoff () iconia com>
> To: "Dave e-mail pamphleteer Farber" <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
>
> Uncle Sam Has All Your Numbers
>
> By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Sunday, June 27, 1999; Page A1
>
> As part of a new and aggressive effort to track down parents who owe child
> support, the federal government has created a vast computerized data-monitoring
> system that includes all individuals with new jobs and the names, addresses,
> Social Security numbers and wages of nearly every working adult in the United
> States.
>
> Government agencies have long gathered personal information for specific
> reasons, such as collecting taxes. But never before have federal officials had
> the legal authority and technological ability to locate so many Americans found
> to be delinquent parents ­ or such potential to keep tabs on Americans accused
> of nothing.
>
> The system was established under a little-known part of the law overhauling
> welfare three years ago. It calls for all employers to quickly file reports on
> every person they hire and, quarterly, the wages of every worker. States
> regularly must report all people seeking unemployment benefits and all
> child-support cases.
>
> Starting next month, the system will reach further. Large banks and other
> financial institutions will be obligated to search for data about delinquent
> parents by name on behalf of the government, providing authorities with details
> about bank accounts, money-market mutual funds and other holdings of those
> parents. State officials, meanwhile, have sharply expanded the use of Social
> Security numbers. Congress ordered the officials to obtain the nine-digit
> numbers when issuing licenses ­ such as drivers', doctors' and outdoorsmen's ­
> in order to revoke the licenses of delinquents.
>
> Enforcement officials say the coupling of computer technology with details
> about individuals' employment and financial holdings will give them an
> unparalleled ability to identify and locate parents who owe child support and,
> when necessary, withhold money from their paychecks or freeze their financial
> assets.
> <snip>
> [The rest cut - article available at url below.]
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/daily/june99/privacy27.htm
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> Geoff_Goodfellow () iconia com, s.r.o.  *   tel/mobil +420 (0)603 706 558
> Vsehrdova 2, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic   *   fax +420 2 5732 0623
> "Success is getting what you want & happiness is wanting what you get"