Perry E. Metzger wrote:
xpat@vm1.spcs.umn.edu says:
Excerpts from : St Paul Pioneer Press, Jan 29, 1995
Here's the kicker: "Although agency officials concede that some of the data collected will be inaccurate, taxpayers will not be allowed to review or correct it" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ So much for the FOIA.
The privacy act and FOIA make that more or less illegal -- if they are keeping information on you, with certain law enforcement related exceptions they have to let you see it.
The articles I've read on this new system ("Compliance 2000") make it clear that the IRS will be buying data from non-governmental entities, e.g., the direct marketing databases and the commercial credit reporting agencies. This neatly skirts the FOIA, as the FOIA cannot be used to force a private entity or corporation to reveal its own data (which, as a libertarian, I am glad of....I wouldn't want folks demanding to sift through my records, files, and dossiers). This just extends the type of "subcontracting" to nominally private entities that the intelligence community began many years ago. The corporation, "Dossiers R Us," will be the "Air America" for our age. --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. Cypherpunks list: majordomo@toad.com with body message of only: subscribe cypherpunks. FAQ available at ftp.netcom.com in pub/tc/tcmay