[Random-bits] Ralph Nader questions on privacy

[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.