December 2000 - cypherpunks-legacy

RE: Ranks Of Privacy 'Pragmatists' Are Growing
by Daniel Orr 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

This article is nothing more than a PR piece. Ronald Plesser, quoted at the end of the article, is an attorney for the Individual Reference Services group. You may remember the group as among the most vocal defenders of Lexis-Nexis when LN was going to sell social security numbers via it PTRAK service. Lexis is one of their members. Westin, the academic who ran the survey, is less than loved among many privacy advocates. I don't know the guy. He's probably on this listserv somewhere. This whole "broad support for commercial access to personal information from public records" thing is probably a response to the LAPD v. King and Condon v. Reno decisions issued by the Supreme Court last year. The former upheld a CA law which excluded access to public records for marketing purposes, the industry's primary source of such info. Further it said marketers and journalists are not the same (something I'm sure Declan was tremendously relieved to hear.) The latter (as most people on this group probably know) upheld the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, ruling that the Federal goverment can restrict states from selling driver info and regulate the exchange of personal info within the commerce clause and without violating the tenth amendment. I suspect the Direct Marketing Association, IRSG, and friends are getting a little nervous Congress might actually act. Also, note the total absence of response from any actual privacy group such as EPIC or Junkbusters, something a balanced piece wouldn't omit. Did I say PR piece? Yeah, it's a piece all right... -----Original Message----- From: Anonymous To: cypherpunks(a)cyberpass.net Sent: 12/7/00 10:18 PM Subject: Ranks Of Privacy 'Pragmatists' Are Growing By Mary Mosquera, TechWeb News Dec 7, 2000 (6:02 AM) URL: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20001207S0002 WASHINGTON -- The issue of privacy is growing increasingly complex as Americans express concern over abuse of their personal data -- yet still support institutions that handle their information. In a new survey of privacy and protection, an inevitable paradox emerges: While most Americans support the free flow of information from public records, they are concerned about their privacy in some instances when personal information is extracted from those records, a recent survey showed. Consumers are accepting that commercial companies supply background information on them from public records. Still, they said, it must be for a valid social or legal purpose, such as for employment or law enforcement. And protections against misuse must be in place, according to the survey, Public Records and the Responsible Use of Information. More Americans are concerned about privacy than in the past, but they take a more balanced view now, said Alan Westin, president of Privacy and American Business, which conducted the survey with ORC International. "More of those now registering concern fall into 'privacy pragmatist' rather than the 'privacy fundamentalist' camp," Westin said. That more balanced outlook contributes to the broad support for commercial access to personal information from public records. And the focus on information gathering over the Internet by millions of Net users has fostered consumers accepting commercial access to their information, Westin said. How to balance good privacy policies and social values served by disseminating public-record information is an important issue in an era when abuse of that information, especially over the Internet, has led to fraud and identity theft. The 1,000 adults surveyed found it acceptable if companies provided personal information for law enforcement, such as past or present fraudulent conduct or criminal convictions, or for hiring. Using public records to locate a current residence or work address was the least acceptable service, unless it was for law enforcement, potential employers, or consumer credit companies. Those polled thought it acceptable, but less so, for private investigators and ordinary citizens to access public records for background and location information, the report said. Consumers strongly oppose the government posting personally identified public information on the Internet. "However, opposition fades when specific safeguards are introduced," the report said. Safeguards included the government requiring the consent of the individual before displaying a public record file on the Internet and demanding a specific, legitimate purpose from a user before allowing their access. "Sensitive personal information, such as Social Security numbers or medical conditions, were removed prior to displaying the public record on the Internet," the report said. The sale of Social Security numbers over the Internet is a source of privacy abuse and identity theft. "Regulating the purchase and sale of Social Security numbers over the Internet won't come overnight," said Ron Plesser, a partner at Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, Washington. "It's a challenge for industry how to use Social Security numbers properly."

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test
by root 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

test

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U.S. Supreme Court vs. Voting Technology (fwd)
by Robert Guerra 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Date: Thursday, December 14, 2000 3:42 AM -0800 From: Ed Gerck <egerck(a)NMA.COM> To: DIGSIG(a)LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU Subject: U.S. Supreme Court vs. Voting Technology List: In its ruling on the Florida election, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively issued a challenge to today's technologists: Create uniform standards for casting ballots so there can be uniform standards for counting votes. However, Florida voting systems exemplify a mixture of technologies, with 40 percent using punch-cards, 55 percent using optical scans, 4 percent using mechanical voting machines and 1 percent using manually tabulated ballots [1]. Ballots in the U.S. are cast using widely different methods, machines, ballot designs, and maintenance procedures. How can one apply a uniform standard to a system that is not uniform? In my view, the justices struggled with the question of valid votes and decided that objectivity needs to be enforced even in a situation where there is no objective reference. This amounts to a technical contradiction. But law has the final word on technology and should set the requirements. It is now up to us technologists to design systems that comply with the law ? or turn it back to law and say that this is impossible, something like legislation that once was introduced [2] to define the value of pi as 3. The Supreme Court decision is thus either bogus or poses a need for strict voting standards. In this regard, a set of 16 strict standards for precinct-based Internet voting ? which are technology-independent and can also be applied to paper-based and electronic touch-screen systems ? was recently presented by Safevote [3] for public comments after some discussions at the IVTA [4] and other online groups, to the IVTA. The requirements include specifications for voter privacy, vote secrecy, election integrity, tamper-proof ballots, open protocol review, open source code, technology independence, physical recounts, multiple audit trails, and 100 percent vote accuracy. Anonymous digital signatures are one way to implement the requirements, as shown in [5]. The requirements and background can be downloaded at www.thebell.net/archives/thebell1.7.pdf -- besides their technical use in developing practical and yet better voting systems, the requirements may also be helpful to legal re-evaluations of what law can and should objectively define in order to help improve voting systems in the U.S. Cheers, Ed Gerck [1] The Bell, www.thebell.net, June 2000. [2] Indiana House Bill #246 was introduced on 18 January 1897, and declares: "the ratio of the diameter and circumference is as five-fourths to four," which makes pi = 3.2. There are other values for pi quoted in the Bill. But the lore is pi = 3, and this is what the public perception has retained -- so, this is also what I chose as an example. More in http://www.acc.umu.se/~olletg/pi/indiana.html [3] www.safevote.com [4] www.ivta.org, tech WG archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/tech@ivta.org/ [5] www.safevote.com/demo2000/ ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------

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t3st
by root 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

hi

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Waz-up?
by ron＠msn.com 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

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MAPS/RBL and censorship
by Jim Choate 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

See the related story on, http://slashdot.org ____________________________________________________________________ Before a larger group can see the virtue of an idea, a smaller group must first understand it. "Stranger Suns" George Zebrowski The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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paycash payment system got $10 mln
by R. A. Hettinga 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

--- begin forwarded text

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National Academy of Sciences panel hears about porn & kids
by Declan McCullagh 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,40653,00.html How X Rates With 'W' by Declan McCullagh (declan(a)wired.com) 8:00 a.m. Dec. 13, 2000 PST WASHINGTON -- Advisory committees inside the federal bureaucracy usually inhabit that featureless terrain between obscurity and futility: There's no pay, scant power and little prestige. But when a group is created by the respected National Academy of Sciences, and when the topic is the politically heated brew of sex, kids and the Internet, traditional rules no longer apply. With an eye to making a recommendation to Congress next year, the academy's committee on Internet pornography and inappropriate material met on Wednesday to hear social science experts describe the effects of smut and violence on the youth of America. It's a sure bet Washington will be paying close attention to the results. Republicans have pledged that the Justice Department will pounce on "obscene" websites should George W. Bush gain the presidency. Bush himself has railed against offensive content online, and he has endorsed library and school filtering. "One of the reasons we've had very little success (getting sex and violence off TV) is that television controls the message," said Joanne Cantor, a communications professor at the University of Wisconsin. "The positive thing may be that television is more willing to focus on the horrors of the Internet than the horrors of television," Cantor said. Cantor, like the other presenters, didn't confine her remarks to porn. Although figuring out how to shield kids from digital prurience is the group's primary task, it's also charged with considering "other inappropriate Internet content." That's arguably a pretty vague mission, but the committee members were too busy agreeing with the speakers to quibble. [...] Wednesday's meeting of the National Academy of Sciences panel was designed to explore "non-technical" strategies for protecting children from offensive material -- such options include providing guidelines for parents and educating kids about sexuality. Technical options the panel will weigh include filtering software, the creation of a new top-level domain, rating systems, and regulations or new laws directed at sexually explicit sites online. The committee's stated goal is to "provide a foundation for a more coherent and objective local and national debate on the subject of Internet pornography" while avoiding "specific" recommendations directed at new laws or regulations. This week's meeting is the third. The group will next meet in March in the San Francisco area to discuss technical options, and finally in June 2001 in Chicago. [...]

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Biowomdterror today in DC
by Declan McCullagh 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

FOREIGN AFFAIRS Washington Foreign Press Center (WFPC) Background briefing on a new phase for the "Rewards for Justice" program, an initiative to prevent international terrorist acts. Foreign media only please Location: WFPC, Room 898, National Press Building, 14th and F St., NW. 2:15 p.m. Contact: Andy Dryden, 202-661-8963 **NEW** FOREIGN AFFAIRS Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) Special session to consider and adopt 1999-2000 national and hemispheric reports on anti-drug efforts progress throughout the Americas, December 11-15. All sessions closed Location: Organization of American States (OAS), 17th St. and Constitution Ave., NW, Hall of the Americas. 9 a.m. Contact: Janelle Conaway, 202-458-6841 **NEW** SOCIAL ISSUES National Press Club Morning Newsmaker Program Release of findings on U.S. terrorism preparedness to be sent to Congress and the president. Participants: Gov. Jim Gilmore, R-Va., chairman, Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction Location: National Press Club, 14th and F Sts., NW. 10 a.m. Contact: 202-662-7593

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Secretions
by R. A. Hettinga 14 Dec '00

14 Dec '00

Speaking of chadors... Thanks, as ever, to Ryan for cypherpunks.venona.com. Cheers, RAH ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] secretions ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com * Subject: secretions * From: Judith Milhon <stjude(a)well.sf.ca.us> * Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1992 03:01:26 -0700 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The alternative to mutual trust, which is indeed a risky gamble, is the security of the police state." -- Alan Watts This text may be published in MONDO2000 as my regular column, Irresponsible Journalism. Eric Hughes suggested the coda with the toad address, adding that it would be amusing to have it almost completely blotted by magic marker, as if inadequately censored. I don't want to be the venom in this toad. <I'd like to be one of the jewels it wears in its head -- I can't quote that precisely, but it's something like, "the venomous toad, which yet in its head wears a precious jewel"...> the idea is to draw in other useful minds. we can assume the WRONG PEOPLE already know the address. lady ada won't apologize for the gonzo wrapping for the ideas; she is concerned only that they be correct and clearly stated. clarifications, expansions, corrections are welcome. also abuse and threats, for that matter... any feedback, please feed me... THE CYPHERPUNK MOVEMENT by St. Jude I don't face-to-face all that much. And I don't like clubs. I was in the Black Hole for a reason: The Screamin' Memes were in town for one night only -- Thursday, of course. Thursday's the night, now that the weekend has annexed Fri. and Mon. I was lurking in the back, hoping not to see anybody, when the Jones brothers staked me out. Damn. They are deep into the street drugs. Keeping up with the Joneses is nigh impossible; their most trivial chitchat is an exercise in decryption. Eddy -- or maybe he was being Ellis that night -- was implying something about somebody when my right foot detonated down to its steel toe. I looked up -- way up -- to a face that wasn't there at all. Just a dome of black cloth, with goggles. Three-eyed goggles. Ah: a Chador. I'd heard of that. I screamed: "You stomped my foot FLAT!" "Sorry." "Are you okay?" "Oh maaaang." Many overlapping voices, all of them synthesized, blurted from above. Out of two tiny speakers hanging like earrings off a basketweave headband like a cop's belt. The head bowed, bringing it almost within biting range. "Gah. Ow. Ooo." Pretending to be demented with pain, I lurched deep into the Chador. But I was cool: I was rootling in there for clues. Ha! Male pheromones. Hardish male torso. I was jostling this lumpy equipment hanging off him, trying to get a good feel of it without alerting him. Nuh uh: _I_ meant electronics... what did _you_ think? Okay: I had some data to work with. Male with gadgets. Quelle surprise. "What the hell have you got on your feet? HORSESHOES?" A voice like rushing water: "Kothurni." The Chador shifted a little... and under his full black skirts I saw them: big weighted club-foot boots with concealed lifts, to disguise the wearer's height. Wicked. The pain and the espionage cleared my head. I was ready to deal. "So you're protecting your meat identity, right?" The Chador seemed to teeter a little. It goggled down at me as if I were a smear on a slide. Its third-eye goggle was a lens. Check. Out of the ambient murk loomed another Chador. Exactly the same height. Right. "How come you guys are in full drag?" "We're here for a... uh... party." The voice from the other Chador was a flanged saxophone, but I could swear it had a Texas accent. "Rubbish. You're having a cell meeting, right? " The near Chador, the one I had groped, seemed to teeter again. What sounded like a tape player on fast-forward came faintly from its interior. An earphone? The saxophone honked: "If I said I even understood what you meant, what kind of a chump would that make me?" "I could hazard a guess. I think you're cryptoanarchists -- what I'd call cypherpunks!" My Chador cracked up. I could tell. The farther one seemed to stiffen; I think it was giving me a hate stare. Hard to manage behind the whole 9 yards o' cloth. "Is that clever or what? I'm onto you like psilocybe on cowshit, dudes. You want to take over the world. Haha hahaha haaaaa." Both of them rocked back a little. I went in after them. "You want to talk encryption schemes? Let's talk cryptic. Tales from the cryp'ed. But make it fast: The Memes are comin' on." Oh, I was bluffing. I don't know much about cryptography. I was just 'tuding them from tech envy. Damn: Chadors. And me without the first widget. From the far guy came a cello, very suave: "The world has already been taken over. You may have noticed this. We're just trying to get some of it back." And the accent was -- Dutch? Bob's yr uncle. Gotcha. I hadn't been certain. Maybe chadors were now trendy club gear -- what do I know? "Hey -- that cello's another guy? How many you PACKIN' in there?" Out of my Chador a sawtooth rasped: "Variable. People are ringing in and out." "You're on line?" "This is a bridge. International." Sawtooth again. The cello resumed, an annoyed cello: "We don't believe in takeovers. In fact, we are working to make things UNTAKEOVERABLE." A theremin quivered, "And to make the world safe for anarchy. _We want the air-waves, baby_." It snickered across many frequencies. The Tejana saxophone chuckled, (and an eerie treat that was, too): "Problem is, how to guarantee privacy for pseudonyms. So you can have a pseudonymous economy." A toad croaked: "So, full-RSA encrypted EVERYTHING. No back doors. Secure digital money. Swiss bank accounts for the millions." The theremin: "A global monetary system that makes governments obsolete. Down come the governments. Goodbye the feds." It sang, whoopingly: "BYE BYE, LAWWww." Horrible broad-band snickering. The toad croaked: "Er... yes. Real freedom of speech, too. Libertech!" The Dutch cello was all business: "Okay, what does it take? You need real-time protocols to prove you own your pseudonym. And your pseudonyms have online reputations, via people you've done biz with -- like a distributed credit rating system. With maybe designated angels -- Fair Witnesses." I was charmed. "And you wear the chador when you face-to-face somebody who knows your handle!" The theremin wheeped: "Actually, unmasking your real identity could be the ultimate collateral -- your killable, _torturable_ body. Even without kids, you've got a hostage to fortune -- your own meat." I was reeling. "Oh yas yas. As Dylan said: 'They asked me for some collateral/ and I pulled down my pants'." Orchestral chuckles rained down on me. Was I an international hit? But at that exact moment The Memes hit the stage. The crowd did a 9.1 Richter lurch and the other Chador pitched onto my LEFT toe, maybe denting the steel. "AAIEEeeee. That's great COVERT GEAR you got there, guys. You couldn't sneak up on Helen Keller in a HAILSTORM." I was trying to spin down. "And dudes -- this is not the neighborhood for flashing the hardware. Getting rolled by winos is pretty LOW TECH." A spike-knuckled glove slithered out of the farther guy, clutching what looked, in the near-dark, like an electric razor. "_Gonna menace 'em with a clean shave_?" The sax: "Stunner. Bottom of the line. But." A hot line of pure energy cracked across its little trodes. Of course. Rushing water: "See ya." And they did a fade into the smoke. The Screamin' Memes were worthless. To hell with clubs. To hell with lots o' things, maybe. I am now sensing my roots, mahn; dey who are my bredren. Nerds. Nerds as mainstreamed by the grainy but still fetching Robt Redford in Sneakers... Nerds who will have their revenge at last, by making the online realer than our current regrettable reality... No, I'm not quite delusional. I've heard the cypherpunks are already distributing their encrypted email software, which is quick and slick. I might even join the revolution, which is, heh, already in progress. Yeah. Why not? Give me libertech or give me... _DES_? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- St. Jude, aka Lady Ada Lovelace, wrote "The Spook in the Machine" for MONDO #1, describing the enforcement of DES, the Data Encryption Scam with the handy backdoor. She can be reached online as stjude(a)well.sf.ca.us. Note: a definitely false rumor is now circulating that the revolutionists can be contacted via cypherpunks(a)toad.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- feed me? >jude< ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Prev by Date: through mr. crypto * Next by Date: the hopping remailer is done * Prev by thread: through mr. crypto * Next by thread: the hopping remailer is done * Index(es): * Date * Thread -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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