So I just got back home after a pleasant dinner with Marc and a bunch of other privacy- and crypto-folks on Capitol Hill. That is, it was pleasant until Marc started yelling about libertarians being "Pod People," or at least possessing similar critical thinking skills. :) Ahem. I'd like to say I held my own, but I fear I was outnumbered. Besides, Marc organized the dinner, and "Pod People" is a good line, and even I had to agree that Steve Forbes is a space alien. On Sun, 1 Jun 1997, Tim May wrote in response to Robert:
Yes, I would support a law that forbids private companies to ask for social security numbers except for tax purposes.
To put it as politely as I can manage, you have no conception of what it means to live in a free, uncoerced society.
No wonder the EFF is so fucked up.
To the best of my knowledge, EF-Georgia does not speak for the EFF. I don't know if the EFF would support such a law as Robert describes. Perhaps Stanton can help out here. Rather than focus on private collection of SSNs, I'd rather cut them off at the source. The government shouldn't be issuing them in the first place. -Declan