[Ecommerce] RN survey: formatting fixed

[James Love]

Press Release
October 9, 2000
CONTACT:  Jake Lewis or Laura Jones
(202) 265-4000


NADER ASKS GORE AND BUSH TO STATE THEIR POSITIONS ON PRIVACY


 WASHINGTON, D. C. Oct. 9---Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate for
President, today released a questionnaire to Vice President Albert Gore
and
Governor George W. Bush seeking their positions on personal privacy for
U.
S. citizens.

 "Our fundamental rights are threatened by new information technologies,
and
by the buying and selling of personal information," Nader wrote the
Democratic and Republican candidates.  "Personal information about
Americans
is routinely collected and abused by government agencies, and by
corporations for private gain."

 Nader said citizens are "demanding that their personal information be
protected."  He said polls show that individuals want legal controls and
penalties for abusers of personal information.

 "The U. S. government needs to take action, both to rein in its own
agencies and to limit the abuses of private companies" Nader told Gore
and
Bush. "Instead of action, the response has been hollow promises of
'industry
self-regulation.'"

 Nader sent the questionnaire to Gore and Bush on September 21.  Neither
has
responded.  In addition to the letters to Bush and Gore, Nader released
his
own answer to the questionnaire.  [Copies of the letter to Gore-Bush and
Nader's answers are attached.]



-------------------

21 September 2000

Vice President Albert Gore
Gore 2000
2410 Charlotte Pike
Nashville TN 37203

Dear Vice President Gore:

As you should be aware, privacy is a crucially important issue in the
information age.  Our fundamental rights are threatened by new
information
technologies, and by the buying and selling of personal information.
Personal information about Americans is routinely collected and abused
by
government agencies, and by corporations for private gain.

The damage is vast. This year alone, hundreds of thousands of
individuals
will have their identities 'stolen' and their credit records threatened
by
thieves who make use of stored personal data.  Workers will lose their
jobs
because of intrusive genetic and psychological tests.  Insurance
companies
will deny coverage because of possible illnesses hidden in people's
genes.
Video cameras will track consumers and citizens throughout private and
public spaces.  Internet companies will secretly monitor millions of
users
activities as they surf the Internet.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are increasing their powers to
conduct
surveillance of citizens. Tens of millions in taxpayer dollars are used
to
pay telephone companies to make it easier to wiretap and to track the
location of cellular phone users. The FBI's Carnivore system can sift
through millions of emails.

Citizens are demanding that their personal information be protected. 
Polls
show that individuals want legal controls, and penalties for abusers.
The
U.S. government needs to take action, both to rein in its own agencies
and
to limit the abuses of private companies.  Instead of action, the
response
has been hollow promises of "industry self-regulation."

I request that you answer the following questions about your positions
on
personal privacy:

1.  Do you think the use of social security numbers by businesses and
government agencies should be regulated?

2. Should patients have the right to control the collection, use and
dissemination of medical information, including genetic information?

3. Should Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other companies on the
Internet be prohibited from misusing customer information and from
selling
information without their customers' permission?

4.  What is your stand on supermarkets and other businesses that use
hidden
surveillance cameras to capture information from their customers?  Do
you
think that covert surveillance technology should be regulated?

5.  Do you support a legally guaranteed right of individuals to see all
information kept about them by companies?

6.  Should the US Government create a watchdog agency to protect US
citizens
from privacy invasions from other government offices or from
corporations?

7.  Should the US support the establishment of an international
convention
on privacy?

I have sent a similar letter to Vice President Gore, and am also
enclosing
my answers to these questions.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ralph Nader

------------

Ralph Nader's Responses to Privacy Questionnaire

1.  Do you think the use of social security numbers by businesses and
government agencies should be regulated?

Yes.  The use and sale of social security numbers by private firms and
most government agencies should be banned.  It leads to identity theft,
and enables the linking of disparate databases, leading to invasions of
privacy.

2. Should patients have the right to control the collection, use and
dissemination of medical information, including genetic information?

Yes.  Today health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and insurance
companies, pharmacies, employers, and others are routinely selling,
sharing or misusing access to medical records.  As a consequence,
patients may have an incentive to withhold truthful information from
physicians.  Unless we can protect patient records, people will be
forced to choose between invasions of privacy and possible
discrimination, or forgoing needed medical care.

3. Should Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other companies on the
Internet be prohibited from misusing customer information and from
selling information without their customers' permission?

Yes. Internet companies should follow basic rules about privacy, just
like telephone companies and cable companies are required to. As
e-commerce becomes ever more common and data collection on Internet
usage more detailed, we need to limit the information collected and
stored by ISPs. Most other countries protect their consumers from
invasions from e-commerce companies.

4.  What is your stand on supermarkets and other businesses that use
hidden surveillance cameras to capture information from their
customers?  Do you think that covert surveillance technology should be
regulated?

Yes.  The use of hidden surveillance for security purposes should be
strictly regulated.  The use of hidden surveillance to gather personal
information for commercial purposes should be banned outright.

5.  Do you support a legally guaranteed right of individuals to see all
information kept about them by companies?

Yes.  This right exists in the US only to a very limited extent, in the
Fair Credit Reporting Act, and it is time to expand this right to other
areas of commerce.  Every major privacy standard, including the OECD
privacy guidelines and the European Union privacy directives, allows
citizens to do this.

6.  Should the US Government create a watchdog agency to protect US
citizens from privacy invasions from other government offices or from
corporations?

Yes.  The US is the only major industrialized country in the World
without such an agency.  More than 40 countries have them.  An
aggressive, independent watchdog agency is essential to protect
citizens' privacy from corporate and governmental invasions.

7.  Should the US support the establishment of an international
convention on privacy?

Yes.  It is clear that in this electronic age it is necessary to have
international standards for the protection of privacy.  Instead, the US
government has lobbied against privacy standards by the ISO and other
bodies, and has lobbied against the European and Canadian government
efforts to protect privacy.  We should support the human right to
privacy over corporations' desire to trade information.



-- 
James Love  mailto:love@cptech.org http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
voice 1.202.387.8030  fax  1.202.234.5176