http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB987110910601888671.htm April 13, 2001 Bush's Medical-Privacy Act Is Part of a Wider Strategy [snip] More broadly, the Bush mindset on privacy could have significant consequences for a variety of businesses. For instance, in a little-noticed comment Mr. Bush made to ZDNet, an Internet news service, shortly before becoming president, he declared: "As president, I will prohibit genetic discrimin- ation, criminalize identity theft, and guarantee the privacy of medical and sensitive financial records. In addition, I will make it a criminal offense to sell a person's Social Security number without his or her express consent." This is bad news for companies that specialize in selling, obtaining, or trading personal data. Congress this year is expected to consider legislation that restricts sales of Social Security numbers. Also, lawmakers anticipate debating a host of Internet-related privacy matters, including new limits on unsolicited e-mails and new rules on data collected by Web sites. "Companies, before they use your or my information, must give you a buy-in, must seek your information in a positive way," Mr. Bush told The Wall Street Journal last year. Certainly his stand on medical-records privacy surprised and delighted consumer and privacy advocates. "We are greatly encouraged that we have cleared the first major hurdle," said Janlori Goldman, director of the Health Privacy Project at Georgetown University. But industry officials were dismayed. Scott Serota, president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, called the rules "an operational nightmare," and said that two years were too short a period for the industry to reach compliance. The American Hospital Association said it was "profoundly disappointed" by the president's decision. The Federation of American Hospitals said the rules, in their current form, were "unworkable." [snip]