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CDR: Congress proposes raiding census records.
by Trei, Peter 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

Let us remember that the last time the privacy of census records were violated on this scale, they were used to imprison tens of thousands of law abiding American citizens, whose only crime was to have Japanese ancestry. Peter Trei ------------- http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/opinion/23MONK.html (free registration required) New York Times, 23 October, 2000 My Data, Mine to Keep Private By LINDA R. MONK WASHINGTON -- I was one of those paranoid Americans who chose not to answer all questions on the long form of the 2000 census. My husband and I decided that the government did not need to know, or had other ways of finding out, what time we left for work, how much our mortgage payment was or the amount of our income that came from wages. We were willing to risk the $100 fine to take a stand for individual privacy in an increasingly nosy and automated age. Editorial writers across the nation chided people like us for being so silly, insisting that only right-wing nuts with delusions of jackbooted federal invaders could possibly object to the census. Think of all the poor women who need day care and disabled people who depend on public transportation, we were told. And don't listen to the warnings of Trent Lott, the Senate majority leader - they're just another Republican ploy to get a low count on the census. Now, however, my concerns don't appear quite so ridiculous. The Congressional Budget Office, with the surprising help of some Congressional Republicans, is angling to get its hands on Census Bureau files. The budget office wants to create a "linked data set" on individuals - using information from the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration and Census Bureau surveys - to help it evaluate proposed reforms in Medicare and Social Security. Under current law, census data on individuals can be used only to benefit the Census Bureau, which has balked at turning over files to the budget office without greater assurances of individual privacy. However, the Congressional number crunchers are not taking no for an answer. Republicans may tack an amendment allowing Congress access to census data onto an appropriations bill before Congress adjourns for the elections. The records the budget office wants are not themselves from the 2000 Census; they are voluntary responses to monthly surveys, with confidentiality promised. Forcing the bureau to give them up would set a disturbing precedent. Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta, who supervises the Census Bureau, warned Congress this month that amending the census law would "seriously compromise" the department's ability to safeguard taxpayers' privacy and "to assure continued high response rates of the American public to census surveys." Chip Walker, a spokesman for Representative Dan Miller, a Florida Republican who chairs the House subcommittee on the census, sees no problem with congressional access to census data. "The Census Bureau is the government, and Congress is the government," he said. Well, that's exactly what I'm afraid of. It's not surprising that a federal agency that stockpiles information would be raided by other federal agencies. If Congress changes the census law, the government will be well on its way to becoming another Amazon.com, which abruptly and retroactively weakened its privacy policy this year. I expected as much, because I don't believe either the government or businesses when they promise me privacy. That's why I routinely lie about personal information when applying for shoppers' discount cards and the like. And it's why I don't answer invasive questions on census forms. Keep your hands off my data set.

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CDR: FW: House Republicans consider Census database, from NY Times
by Trei, Peter 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

The last time they did this, tens of thousands of law abiding American citizens were placed in prison camps, for no reason other than their ethnicity. Peter Trei > ---------- > From: Declan McCullagh[SMTP:declan@well.com] > Reply To: declan(a)well.com > Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2000 2:29 PM > To: politech(a)politechbot.com > Subject: FC: House Republicans consider Census database, from NY > Times > > > ****** > > From: Steve Hutto <SHutto(a)Policy-Studies.com> > To: "'declan(a)well.com'" <declan(a)well.com> > Subject: politech submission > Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 12:21:36 -0600 > > Hi Declan, love the list. Apologies if you're already tracking this... > > Op-Ed from the NY Times 10/23/2000 > "My Data, Mine to Keep Private" by Linda R. Monk > http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/opinion/23MONK.html > > Scary opinion about House Republicans looking at creating a "linked data > set" between Census Bureau files and the IRS and SSA. Any meat to this > one? > > Excerpt: > "Under current law, census data on individuals can be used only to > benefit the Census Bureau, which has balked at turning over files > to the budget office without greater assurances of individual > privacy. However, the Congressional number crunchers are not taking > no for an answer. Republicans may tack an amendment allowing > Congress access to census data onto an appropriations bill before > Congress adjourns for the elections." > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology > You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. > To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html > This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >

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CDR: Verify Your $25,000 Entry
by confirm＠easywinning.com 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

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EZ-Pass discovers risk of sending URLs instead of actual text
by danny burstein 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

In a story datelined 24-Oct-2000, and headlined: New Jersey shuts down E-ZPass statement site after security breached The Associated Press reported on a problem with privacy and security on the New Jersey EZPASS website where people can review their usage. (EZPass is a radio transponder placed in your motor vehicle which is "read" at toll booths, enabling you to zip through without having to stop and hand over cash. Naturally it keeps records of when and where you were for billing purposes... Which is another RISK all together) Per the story: TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A security breach has forced New Jersey officials to temporarily shut down a service that allows E-ZPass users to get monthly statements via e-mail. The story contains claims and counter-claims, some of which are mutually exclusive, but then has the following paragraph: Reagoso said Monday that it wasn't hard to break into the system. He discovered that the electronic statements aren't sent directly to drivers via e-mail, but rather drivers are provided with a link to access their accounts. Presumably the link for, say, October would have been something like www.[the number of your account].200010.[somelocation] and all you'd have to do is replace your own account number with the person's you were looking for. Quoting one more paragraph from the story: "It's something that an eighth-grader who designs his own Web page at home is capable of doing," Reagoso said. "It took four accidental keystrokes to display anybody's account." I just checked the EZPass website (www.ezpass.com) and they don't have any comments posted... [It turns out Mr. Reagoso has his own website: http://www.reagoso.com in which he says a bit more. DB]

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EZ-Pass discovers risk of sending URLs instead of actual text
by danny burstein 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

In a story datelined 24-Oct-2000, and headlined: New Jersey shuts down E-ZPass statement site after security breached The Associated Press reported on a problem with privacy and security on the New Jersey EZPASS website where people can review their usage. (EZPass is a radio transponder placed in your motor vehicle which is "read" at toll booths, enabling you to zip through without having to stop and hand over cash. Naturally it keeps records of when and where you were for billing purposes... Which is another RISK all together) Per the story: TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A security breach has forced New Jersey officials to temporarily shut down a service that allows E-ZPass users to get monthly statements via e-mail. The story contains claims and counter-claims, some of which are mutually exclusive, but then has the following paragraph: Reagoso said Monday that it wasn't hard to break into the system. He discovered that the electronic statements aren't sent directly to drivers via e-mail, but rather drivers are provided with a link to access their accounts. Presumably the link for, say, October would have been something like www.[the number of your account].200010.[somelocation] and all you'd have to do is replace your own account number with the person's you were looking for. Quoting one more paragraph from the story: "It's something that an eighth-grader who designs his own Web page at home is capable of doing," Reagoso said. "It took four accidental keystrokes to display anybody's account." I just checked the EZPass website (www.ezpass.com) and they don't have any comments posted... [It turns out Mr. Reagoso has his own website: http://www.reagoso.com in which he says a bit more. DB]

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CDR: Wired News tech scorecard for U.S. House of Representatives
by Declan McCullagh 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

At Wired News, we've compiled a list of the technology voting records of each member of the U.S. House of Representatives. That meant picking seven tech bills and grading all 435 legislators -- at least the ones who showed up those days -- on their floor votes. If they chose to take a hands-off approach, they got a "1", while regulatory votes got a "0." (If you disagree with us, flip the scale around.) Here's the list sorted by last name (scoll down to find your legislator): http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,39637,00.html Sorted by score, with the two California reps with 100 percent at the top: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,39636,00.html And a summary of the results, with some methodology: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,39625,00.html Some interesting results: Purported privacy advocates like Democrat Ed Markey didn't score well, getting a 33% of 100%, in part because of his opposition to financial privacy legislation. Republican Bob Goodlatte, Internet caucus co-chair, got just 43% because of his support for speech and gambling restrictions. -Declan The floor votes scored: HR2031: A vote to restrict online sales of alcohol. (No is 1) HR3615: A vote to create a new federal agency to spend $1.25 billion on rural TV service. (No is 1) HR3709: A vote to extend a temporary federal ban on Internet taxes. (Yes is 1) HR3125: A vote to prohibit Internet gambling. (No is 1) HR1501: A vote on an amendment to restrict the sale of violent material such as videogames to anyone under the age of 18. (No is 1) HR10: A vote on an amendment to protect financial privacy by restricting government monitoring of bank accounts. (Yes is 1) HR1714: A vote to allow the use of electronic signatures. (Yes is 1)

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CDR: Zero-Knowledge Open-Sources Linux Client
by anonymous＠openpgp.net 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

from the privacy-for-all dept. jailbreakist writes "Zero-Knowledge Systems, a Montreal based privacy software company, has released the source code to their Linux client. The software in question provides anonymous web browsing, pseudonymous email, form filling, cookie management and more. You can get the source at opensource.zeroknowledge.com. The source is available under the MPL, and our clientshim and Yarrow (random number generation) implementations are under GPL."

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CDR: New ID system keeps tabs on kids
by Secret Squirrel 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

"Mooooo" say air passengers. "Baaaaa" say students. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 19:42:05 -0400 Newsgroups: alt.privacy Subject: New ID system keeps tabs on kids Students have their ID Cards scanned at the start of the school day at Bensalem High School By Denise Clay SPECIAL TO THE PREMIERE dclay(a)calkinsnewspapers.com Getting into Bensalem High School now requires identification, but not any card will do. Students have begun using photo identification cards connected to the school's new Comprehensive Attendance Administration and Security System. The cards have the student's name and other information encoded n them. A computerized reader scans them. The systen is designed to help school officials monitor students' comings and goings. In the future, the electronic screens at the ID stations will show if a student has been suspended and shouldn't be in school. The monitors will also sing "Happy Birthday" to a student on the appropriate day. Six identification stations are located at the front entrance of the school, said Princial Elliott Lewis. One station is staffed with a hall monitor all day. Students have been adjusting to the Windows 95-based system and the additional responsibilities connected to it, officials say. "The kids have been responding well," said Natalie Knable, assistant principal. "They've been carrying their IDs." Those who forget are given a temporary pass after signing in at the ID station.

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CDR: Killing Judges
by John Young 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

What has happened lately in the killing judges world? There was a spate of cases and a couple of jokers got vised, but any recently? I mean in the US, not elsewhere it's acceptable culling. Is Jeff still here hoping for another gold star, is Tim still being bullseyed for "he's gone too far, make him an example." Crypto-assassin CJ's still emitting judicial mock, with filthy, disgusting heavals from Three Rivers, TX. Course, the flung bung wads could be Jeff's plying your honor.

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CDR: Re: Risk and insurance
by Bill Stewart 24 Oct '00

24 Oct '00

Archives are on www.inet-one.com At 02:50 PM 10/23/00 +0300, Sampo A Syreeni wrote: >On Sun, 22 Oct 2000, Tim May wrote: > >>The book I recommended a week or two ago, Judea Pearl's "Causality," >>is much more advanced in its mathematics. (But the math is important >>if one is actually trying to construct the causality diagrams Pearl >>is talking about.) > >Would it be too much to ask you to recant the main point made? It sounds >pretty interesting... > >Sampo Syreeni <decoy(a)iki.fi>, aka decoy, student/math/Helsinki university > > > > Thanks! Bill Bill Stewart, bill.stewart(a)pobox.com PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639

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