Ranks Of Privacy 'Pragmatists' Are Growing

[Daniel Orr]

This article is nothing more than a PR piece.

Ronald Plesser, quoted at the end of the article, is an attorney for the
Individual Reference Services group. You may remember the group as among the
most vocal defenders of Lexis-Nexis when LN was going to sell social
security numbers via it PTRAK service. Lexis is one of their members. 

Westin, the academic who ran the survey, is less than loved among many
privacy advocates. I don't know the guy. He's probably on this listserv
somewhere.

This whole "broad support for commercial access to personal information from
public records" thing is probably a response to the LAPD v. King and Condon
v. Reno decisions issued by the Supreme Court last year. The former upheld a
CA law which excluded access to public records for marketing purposes, the
industry's primary source of such info. Further it said marketers and
journalists are not the same (something I'm sure Declan was tremendously
relieved to hear.)

The latter (as most people on this group probably know) upheld the Driver's
Privacy Protection Act, ruling that the Federal goverment can restrict
states from selling driver info and regulate the exchange of personal info
within the commerce clause and without violating the tenth amendment. 

I suspect the Direct Marketing Association, IRSG, and friends are getting a
little nervous Congress might actually act.

Also, note the total absence of response from any actual privacy group such
as EPIC or Junkbusters, something a balanced piece wouldn't omit.

Did I say PR piece? Yeah, it's a piece all right...

-----Original Message-----
From: Anonymous
To: cypherpunks at cyberpass.net
Sent: 12/7/00 10:18 PM
Subject: Ranks Of Privacy 'Pragmatists' Are Growing


By Mary Mosquera, TechWeb News
Dec 7, 2000 (6:02 AM)
URL: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20001207S0002 

WASHINGTON -- The issue of privacy is growing increasingly complex as
Americans express concern over abuse of their personal data -- yet still
support institutions that handle their information. In a new survey of
privacy and protection, an inevitable paradox emerges: While most
Americans support the free flow of information from public records, they
are concerned about their privacy in some instances when personal
information is extracted from those records, a recent survey showed. 

Consumers are accepting that commercial companies supply background
information on them from public records. Still, they said, it must be
for a valid social or legal purpose, such as for employment or law
enforcement.

And protections against misuse must be in place, according to the
survey, Public Records and the Responsible Use of Information.

More Americans are concerned about privacy than in the past, but they
take a more balanced view now, said Alan Westin, president of Privacy
and American Business, which conducted the survey with ORC
International.

"More of those now registering concern fall into 'privacy pragmatist'
rather than the 'privacy fundamentalist' camp," Westin said.

That more balanced outlook contributes to the broad support for
commercial access to personal information from public records. And the
focus on information gathering over the Internet by millions of Net
users has fostered consumers accepting commercial access to their
information, Westin said. 

How to balance good privacy policies and social values served by
disseminating public-record information is an important issue in an era
when abuse of that information, especially over the Internet, has led to
fraud and identity theft.

The 1,000 adults surveyed found it acceptable if companies provided
personal information for law enforcement, such as past or present
fraudulent conduct or criminal convictions, or for hiring. Using public
records to locate a current residence or work address was the least
acceptable service, unless it was for law enforcement, potential
employers, or consumer credit companies.

Those polled thought it acceptable, but less so, for private
investigators and ordinary citizens to access public records for
background and location information, the report said.

Consumers strongly oppose the government posting personally identified
public information on the Internet.

"However, opposition fades when specific safeguards are introduced," the
report said.

Safeguards included the government requiring the consent of the
individual before displaying a public record file on the Internet and
demanding a specific, legitimate purpose from a user before allowing
their access.

"Sensitive personal information, such as Social Security numbers or
medical conditions, were removed prior to displaying the public record
on the Internet," the report said.

The sale of Social Security numbers over the Internet is a source of
privacy abuse and identity theft.

"Regulating the purchase and sale of Social Security numbers over the
Internet won't come overnight," said Ron Plesser, a partner at Piper
Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, Washington. "It's a challenge for industry how
to use Social Security numbers properly."