FC: A response to Robert Gellman on journalists, privacy, and Lexis

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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http://www.politechbot.com/p-04115.html
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From: "Alex R. Cohen" <arc () thefreestudent com>
To: <declan () well com>
Subject: Re: Robert Gellman replies to jlists too eager to side with privacy
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2002 13:05:39 -0500

Declan:

I don't know what mechanism controls access to this data by private
investigators, but I do know what applies to lawyers with Lexis accounts,
for addresses gleaned from a range of rather private sources, probably
including drivers licenses: They have to click a button that says, "I'm
entitled to access this data." No details are required.

What prevents them from clicking that button and getting their favorite
celebrity's home address? Only the star's ingenuity at keeping the address
out of the records. I've been invited to run just that sort of search in
order to learn how to use that Lexis database--I and a number of other
people, all on one account, so there's no record of who is responsible for
which search.

ALEX R. COHEN
Class of 2003
University of Pennsylvania Law School




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