more on We all have to sacrifice, in the War on Terriers]

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [IP] We all have to sacrifice, in the War on Terriers
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 17:18:08 -0500
From: Andrew Koenig <ark () acm org>
Reply-To: ark () acm org
To: dave () farber net

> Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union
> and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He
> learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act.

This is something new?  Shortly before I got married in 1998, my wife-to-be
and I bought wedding rings.  I forget why, but we had to pay for each ring
in a separate transaction.

That evening, we went out to dinner, and found the credit-card transaction
declined, because there had been suspicious transactions on that card
earlier in the day.  I had to give a whole bunch of personal information to
the people at the credit-card company before they would allow the charge.  I
don't know what we would have done if they hadn't been satisfied.

Which they might not have been.  I later heard about someone who was to be
best man at a friend's wedding.  He arranged a bachelor party at a
restaurant.  When the bill came, the charge was declined.  He spoke to the
credit-card company representative, who said "Sorry, but we won't authorize
a charge of that size at a restaurant, even though it's within your credit
limit.  It's too likely to be fraudulent."  Fortunately, someone else there
had a credit card that would authorize it, because there was nothing he
could do.

For a long time now, we've been moving toward a society where any unusual
behavior results in an investigation by the authorities.  9/11 may have
accelerated the process, but it sure didn't start it.



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