[IPN] 3 statements by Presidential candidates on privacy

[James Love]

There are 3 statements by Presidential candidates on privacy.  The first
two are from an AP questionnaire to Bush and Gore on Internet Privacy. 
The third is a questionnaire Ralph Nader has sent to the other
candidates, with his answers.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/10/06/politics0313EDT0457.DTL&type=tech_article

(10-06)  Three days a week, The Associated Press picks an issue and asks
the leading presidential candidates a question about it. Today's
question and the responses:

Internet Privacy: Should the federal government step in to safeguard
people's online privacy or can that be done through self-regulation and
users' education?

Republican George W. Bush: ``I believe privacy is a fundamental right,
and that every American should have absolute control over his or her
personal information. Now, with the advent of the Internet, personal
privacy is increasingly at risk. I am committed to protecting personal
privacy for every American and I believe the marketplace can function
without sacrificing the privacy of individuals. Industry appears to be
making some efforts to meet consumer demands for privacy protection. I
will ensure Americans can exercise their right to know how their
information is collected, how it will be used, and to accept or decline
the collection or dissemination of this information, especially
sensitive medical, genetic, and financial information. In Texas, I
banned identity theft, safeguarded genetic information, protected
driver's license information and provided for a new Internet Bureau Task
Force to combat emerging cyber crimes. As president, I will prohibit
genetic discrimination, criminalize identity theft, and guarantee the
privacy of medical and sensitive financial records. I will also make it
a criminal offense to sell a person's Social Security number without his
or her express consent.''

Democrat Al Gore: ``I believe that, in this time of unprecedented
possibility, we must ensure that new technology is used to renew and
strengthen our oldest and most cherished values. That is why I have
called for an Electronic Bill of Rights for this electronic age. It
includes the right to choose whether personal information is disclosed;
the right to know how, when, and how much of that information is being
used; the right to see it yourself; and the right to know if it's
accurate. In many areas, I believe that industry self-regulation of
Internet privacy is an effective response. We have been pushing the
private sector to get good privacy policies online, and there has been
some impressive progress. For instance, only 14 percent of commercial
Web sites had privacy policies posted in the spring of 1998, but that
number had risen to 88 percent by this spring. The next steps are to
figure out the best way to get privacy policies posted at that last 12
percent and to keep improving the quality of privacy policies. I am
proud of my role in pushing for effective privacy protection in the area
of online profiling. In 1998, before most people were even aware of the
problem, I called for the government to study this issue and to create
an effective response. Last year, the administration and the FTC held a
workshop that pushed the industry to come to the table and negotiate a
privacy code of conduct. That code of conduct is now in place.''



http://www.votenader.org/press/0001008privacy.html

Ralph Nader's Privacy Questionnaire, with Ralph Nader's answeres.  

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