FC: Robert Gellman replies to jlists too eager to side with privacy

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 15:28:15 -0500
From: Robert Gellman <rgellman () netacc net>
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Are journalists too eager to side with privacy over 
freespeech?

I have to respond to correct an inaccuracy in this posting.

>      being taxed equitably. The article also brings up the infamous case of
>      Rebecca Schaeffer, the actress who was murdered by a stalker who
>      tracked her down through state driver's license records. That slaying
>      spurred Congress to require states to block public access
>      (http://www.rcfp.org/news/mag/v.cgi?24-1/foi-congress) to driver's
>      license records — eliminating a tool that reporters have often found
>      useful to track down a source. The irony, unmentioned in the Business
>      Week article, is that Schaeffer's killer got her address through a
>      private investigator — and private investigators continue to have
>      access (http://www.rcfp.org/news/1999/1115renovc.html) to license
>      records under the federal law.

The real irony is that critics of the DPPA keep saying that private
investigators could still get the information that Schaeffer's killer
wanted.  THAT IS NOT TRUE.  Under 18 USC 2721(a)(8), a licensed private
investigator can get DMV records "for any purpose permitted under this
section."  The policy is that if a person is otherwise eligible to get
DMV records (e.g., a tow truck operator), that person could use a
private investigator to get the records.  The investigator stands in the
shoes of his/her client.  In the Schaeffer case, the client has no right
to get records and the investigator had no right.

This is an urban myth about the DPPA that has been posted routinely,
often by members of the press.  It would be nice if someone actually
read the law first.

Bob

--
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+ Robert Gellman                            +
+ Privacy and Information Policy Consultant +
+ 419 Fifth Street SE                       +
+ Washington, DC 20003                      +
+ 202-543-7923        <rgellman () netacc net> +
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