Net Privacy Bill Called 'Trojan Horse' By Robert O'Harrow Jr, Washington Post WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 25 Oct 2000, 6:14 AM CST The legislation began as an effort to protect people like Amy Boyer, a New Hampshire woman who was slain by a man who tracked her down after buying her Social Security number on the Internet. In May, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., proposed a law to sharply limit the sale of the identifying numbers, which often serve as hooks for electronic dossiers about the whereabouts, credit histories and lifestyles of millions of Americans. Then the information industry got involved. Now privacy advocates say Gregg's modified measure, part of an appropriations bill set to pass in the final days of Congress, is a "Trojan horse" that does more harm than good, because loopholes allow giant data brokers, banks, marketers and even private detectives to exchange or sell the numbers among themselves. That means such companies will be free to use the numbers to track down debtors or deadbeat parents, collect personal data, conduct fraud investigations, and build profiles about what people buy and do. The debate is the latest flare-up over one of the staples of the information age, a number that enables government agencies, marketers and information brokers to keep close tabs on a proliferation of data about individual Americans. Some privacy activists believe that Social Security numbers should be used only with individuals' permission. At the same time, information industries that rely on unfettered access to personal information fear losing control over a key to their business. "It is just the worst kind of legislation," said Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer advocate at the US Public Interest Research Group, who has worked with Consumers Union, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Clinton administration to oppose Gregg's proposal. "It is supposed to do something good, but it actually makes things worse." Tim Remsburg, Amy Boyer's stepfather, who originally asked Gregg to introduce the bill, is angry about how it evolved. "It sure isn't as effective as what I asked for at the beginning," he said in an interview. "They want to put Amy's name on this." A Gregg spokesman defended the legislation, saying it will make it illegal to sell Social Security numbers to individuals. But he acknowledged that the current legislation was crafted with help from the Individual Reference Services Group (IRSG), an industry association that includes some of the nation's largest data marketers. Members include such companies as Acxiom Corp., Equifax Inc. and Trans Union LLC, which have strongly opposed any efforts to curb access to personal data. IRSG representative Ronald Plesser, who worked with Gregg's office on the legislation, did not return repeated telephone calls. In a Sept. 28 letter to Gregg's office, Plesser blasted more stringent restrictions proposed by the Clinton administration. A letter from IRSG said, "Your bill strikes the right balance by providing strong privacy protections without undermining the range of important and socially beneficial activities by business and government that have developed based upon the use of SSNs." One exception also would permit state and local governments to continue selling records containing Social Security numbers. The provision is worded in such a way that, critics say, it would allow businesses buying those records to use Social Security numbers with no legal restraints. Remsburg's stepdaughter, Amy Boyer, 20, was fatally shot last year by a man who had been stalking her for some time. The man, who killed himself after killing Boyer, acknowledged at a Web site that he obtained details about Boyer from brokers on the Internet. "It's a significant restriction on the ability of individuals to get Social Security numbers," said Gregg spokesman Edmund M. Amarosi. "We feel it will have a significant impact on preventing a recurrence of what happened to Amy Boyer." In a statement, Gregg's office said that "the exceptions that are outlined in the Amy Boyer Law were the result of thoughtful consideration of the impact that a complete ban on the use of Social Security numbers would have on our nation's economy." Until recently, at the request of industry, the law also prohibited states from enacting tougher legislation. But Amarosi said that exception would be dropped because of objections from the administration and others. Copyright (C) 2000, The Washington Post. Reprinted with permission. Reported By The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com .