~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C'punks, We had the second monthly meeting of NYC area cypherpunks today. Eleven of us met at a Chinese restaurant near Times Square (up from eight, last month). In addition to good conversation, one of our number, Sal Denaro, graciously provided Cypherpunkish "party favors." Everyone in attendance was given a "Global Key" pre-paid telephone calling card good for five free minutes of long-distance calling anywhere in the US. Sal gave this cautionary advice about privacy. "If you want privacy, don't use the phone." He went on to tell us the sort of information that phone and calling card companies collect. So how do you maximize your calling card privacy? Sal says you should to destroy your calling card when you finish with it. Better yet, memorize the card's ID code and destroy it *before* you use it. He has had LEA types bring in cards they had taken off suspects, and ask for a list of everyone who was called using that card. When they had proper legal authorization, he has had to comply. Sal wasn't very sanguine about my suggestion of physically mixing and redistributing cards at C'punk meetings. He said *he* would not want to use a card without knowing what it had been used for. I still think it's not a bad idea, but I see his point. (Good afternoon Mr. Sandfort. I'm Agent Johnson with the Secret Service and I'd like to ask you a few questions about a call you apparently made to the White House last month...) We covered other territory besides phone cards, but mostly it was an opportunity for local C'punks to get to meet each other in the flesh. Duncan will be making an announcement soon about next months meeting. I hope to see some new as well as familiar faces then. S a n d y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~