Another Invasion of Privacy

[downeast@tir.com (downeast)]

     While not DIRECTLY related to medical records privacy our local
newspaper carried a disturbing Newhouse News Service article this past
Saturday, Feb. 6, 1999.
     Intel has a new computer chip due out in late February with an embedded
tracking number.
     Intel says the numbers are a simple feature intended to make online
shopping easier.
     Lobbying groups counter that it can easily be used as an Information
Age radio collar allowing marketers and government and employers to track
individuals around the internet recording their buying and surfing habits.
     The Electronic Privacy Information Center <www.epic.org> is heading a
boycott and will ask the Federal Trade Commission to launch a formal
investigation for unfair trade practices.
     Mike Godwin from the Electronic Frontier Foundation says marketing
interests are so deeply entrenched in government, its not possible to pass
comprehensive data privacy laws in the US.
     Stanton McCandlish says that we have a constitutional amendment
protecting free speech, but we don't have one protecting privacy.
     Barry Steinhardt, assistant director for the American Civil Liberties
Union said, "This (chip) just points out the need for privacy laws at the
national level."