Bush mindset on privacy

[George at Orwellian.Org]

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."
    
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