Date: Wed, 25 May 94 14:54:33 EST Errors-To: Comp-privacy Error Handler From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator To: Comp-privacy@uwm.edu Subject: Computer Privacy Digest V4#071 Computer Privacy Digest Wed, 25 May 94 Volume 4 : Issue: 071 Today's Topics: Moderator: Leonard P. Levine Canada, The Internet, and the Homolka trial Re: SSN & Auto registration Re: Privacy at the Jiffy Lube! Re: Info On Clipper Chip Needed Urgently .. Please Re: Employee looking up your license plate number Re: Employee looking up your license plate number Re: Employee looking up your license plate number Re: Employee looking up your license plate number Re: Employee looking up your license plate number The Computer Privacy Digest is a forum for discussion on the effect of technology on privacy. The digest is moderated and gatewayed into the USENET newsgroup comp.society.privacy (Moderated). Submissions should be sent to comp-privacy@uwm.edu and administrative requests to comp-privacy-request@uwm.edu. Back issues are available via anonymous ftp on ftp.cs.uwm.edu [129.89.9.18]. Login as "ftp" with password "yourid@yoursite". The archives are in the directory "pub/comp-privacy". Archives are also held at ftp.pica.army.mil [129.139.160.133]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Prof. L. P. Levine" Date: 25 May 1994 14:35:38 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Canada, The Internet, and the Homolka trial Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Taken from Risks-List: Risks-Forum Digest Weds 25 May 1994 (16:09) As reported in Toronto's EYE Newspaper [eye@io.org] (similar to New York's Village Voice) dated 19 May 1994: The London Ontario detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police have begun a campaign of harassment against local University Internet users who are attempting to use the net to gain information on the Karla Homolka trial. A University of Western Ontario (London) student had his Internet account frozen by the university computer staff when requested by the Police. The reason for this lay in the student's name being left on the text of a FAQ of the details of the trial. Another student in Toronto had Faxed this material (which had been Emailed to him) to the Toronto media, and the offices of the Premier of Ontario and the Attorney-General as an act of provocation against the Ban (his regular anonymous forwarding site was not working). The problem was that he had forgotten to remove the other persons name and account number from the original E-mail that was sent out. The police action against the student's account was done without a warrant, and also involved the questioning of the student at the local police station. Likewise the students home computer was searched without a warrant by using the threat of criminal charges. The Student's computer account was reinstated, but he was required to turn over all incoming Email to the police under the threat of criminal charges if he did not cooperate. A list of about 50 people who had received Homolka FAQ's were passed on to the police. The important part of this entire situation is that no one, including the Ontario Attorney-General office is certain that the ban applies to the Internet. The ban states that details of the trial cannot be published in the print media but there is no ban on possession of information. There is no mention of the Internet, nor the use of computer systems in the ban. Further, there is no official investigation of the Internet on the part of the Ontario Provincial Police, except for this one detachment. One of the questions raised is the ethics of the University of Western Ontario's computer department. Their cooperation with the police was based on a fear of having their computer equipment confiscated (similar to the case of the University of Cambridge in England). If the situation had taken place with in the library system of the university, it would not have been tolerated by the library staff due to the long held tradition in that profession of the defence of freedom of speech. If the Internet is to remain open this set of values will have to become part of the professional commitment of the MIS staff of universities as well. ------------------------------ From: hibbert@netcom.com (Chris Hibbert) Date: 25 May 1994 01:06:33 GMT Subject: Re: SSN & Auto registration Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) I recently received my New Jersey auto registration renewal form and noticed the following note attached to a request for my Social Security Number: "Submission of the Social Security Numbers is required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:21-1.3. The number will serve as an internal secondary-identifier to prevent errors, to enforce interstate motor vehicle laws, and to assist in collecting motor vehicle fees." This seems to be a blatant misuse of the SSN. Is it legal? Has anyone every challenged it? If so, with what result? Seems likely to be valid. From the "Short History" section of the Social Security Number FAQ: The Tax Reform Act of 1976 gave authority to state or local tax, welfare, driver's license, or motor vehicle registration authorities to use the number in order to establish identities. The words you quoted above seem to be in partial compliance with the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974. The Privacy Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-579) requires that any federal, state, or local government agency that requests your Social Security Number has to tell you four things: 1: Whether disclosure of your Social Security Number is required or optional, 2: What statute or other authority they have for asking for your number, 3: How your Social Security Number will be used if you give it to them, and 4: The consequences of failure to provide an SSN. California has a similar requirement now, and its passage seems to have been completely legal. Complain to a state legislator. Tell them how much you trust your DMV to keep the SSN confidential. -- Chris Hibbert protecting privacy in the computer age is hibbert@netcom.com like trying to change a tire on a moving car. ------------------------------ From: bcn@world.std.com (Barry C Nelson) Date: 25 May 1994 06:00:13 GMT Subject: Re: Privacy at the Jiffy Lube! Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA sutter@verisoft.com (Paul Sutter) writes: Here in California, when you sell a car the license plate is generally transferred with the car. [...] "Is your license really 2PKY595?" and i looked out at my car and said "Yes". "Well we have on file that that car is owned by John Q. Public, who lives at..." I bet if you call Jiffy Lube, they will tell you that the files are confidential. In Massachusetts you can call the Registry with a VIN or a plate number and they'll tell you the name, address, phone number, insurance company, and lots of other interesting things about the registered owner (such as any outstanding tickets, suspensions, etc). I gave them the plate number of an abandoned car and they gave me a whole page printout of the registration history and driving record of the registered owner (a neighbor). How thoughtful of them. "Hey, Joe, How come you never told me about that DWI conviction you had?" -BCNelson ------------------------------ From: glr@rci.ripco.com (Glen Roberts) Date: 25 May 1994 17:00:37 GMT Subject: Re: Info On Clipper Chip Needed Urgently .. Please Organization: RCI, Chicago, IL Rick Lawless (rlawless@iol.ie) wrote: I have seen references to the clipper chip on this newsgroup and I urgently need some information on same please. The problem is I need it within 24 hrs. I jjust want a brief description i.e. what it does, where it came from, etc... Full Disclosure No. 31 has an article written by Ted Bettwy, President of Mykotronx, the only company authorized to produce the Clipper Chip. -- Glen L. Roberts, author, How To Spy On Anyone Without Getting Caught Host Full Disclosure Live (WWCR 5,810 khz - Sundays 7pm central) Box 734, Antioch, Illinois 60002 Fax: (708) 838-0316 Surveillance Hotline: (708) 356-9646 Bust the Bureaucrats: (708) 356-6726 ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Date: 24 May 1994 12:14:12 -0400 Subject: Re: Employee looking up your license plate number Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC swarnerr@mexico.bettis.gov (Bob Swarner) writes: I recently got a parking "violation" from by employer for not parking exactly where they wanted me to. They put a slip on the windshield, which I figured they kept a record of to look for repeat offenders. >Well, it turns out they also, via my license plate number, got my name and sent a copy to my supervisor. While this is not a big deal (my bosses comment was "Who cares?"), was this a proper use of the license plate? All the more reason to register the car in the name of a corporation or DBA. From your posting I gather you ... registered the car in your own name? -- Carl Oppedahl AA2KW Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers) Yorktown Heights, NY voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ From: "/DD.ID=AHIPC1J.RCARLS01/G=RICHARD/S=CARLSON/"@EDS.DIAMONDNET.sprint.com Date: 24 May 1994 13:40:57 -0400 Subject: Re: Employee looking up your license plate number Bob Swarner in V4#70 wrote about having his license plate used to send a "parking violation" notification to his supervisor. I have a friend who also had this happen recently. How does an employer get access to the driver information from the DMV? I knew that insurance companies have dialup access into the system, when I recently bought car insurance the carrier looked up my driving record in the state's records. Is it common for employers to have this access? Rick Carlson 300 E. Big Beaver Troy, MI 48083 (810) 524-3989 (8-224) ------------------------------ From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Date: 24 May 94 14:32:04 EDT Subject: Re: Employee looking up your license plate number swarnerr@mexico.bettis.gov (Bob Swarner) wrote: I recently got a parking "violation" from by employer for not parking exactly where they wanted me to. They put a slip on the windshield, which I figured they kept a record of to look for repeat offenders. >Well, it turns out they also, via my license plate number, got my name and sent a copy to my supervisor. While this is not a big deal (my bosses comment was "Who cares?"), was this a proper use of the license plate? Are you sure it was from the plate? Most government agencies that I know of routinely issue a sticker to facilitate entrance and exit from the site. This is also true for my daughter's truck that she uses to go back and forth from college. I'd suspect that the sticker was used. If there wasn't a sticker then I say the employer queried a DMV databse but I rather doubt it. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 1+(516) 282-3093 FAX 1+(516) 282-7688 ------------------------------ From: "Prof. L. P. Levine" Date: 24 May 1994 13:57:44 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: Employee looking up your license plate number Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee swarnerr@mexico.bettis.gov (Bob Swarner) stated: Well, it turns out they also, via my license plate number, got my name and sent a copy to my supervisor. While this is not a big deal (my bosses comment was "Who cares?"), was this a proper use of the license plate? In Wisconsin the entire list of name and address vs licence plate list is for sale by the State as a computer tape for $2,200. When an order comes in for a car registration and plate number tape, the purchaser gets the plate number followed by the owner's name and address and registration information on the vehicle except for those who have submitted a privacy form, in which case that line gives only the plate number and a 5-digit zip code. A purchaser can also order, for a fee of about $30, a list of ten or fewer names, licenses, or plate numbers with full addresses regardless of whether or not a privacy form has been submitted. Good or bad, this is a sincere effort on the part of the State of Wisconsin to provide its legal data to those who need it, while maintaining some privacy for those who want it. This is a new law in the state, and is much better than nothing. -- Leonard P. Levine e-mail levine@cs.uwm.edu Professor, Computer Science Office 1-414-229-5170 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Fax 1-414-229-6958 Box 784, Milwaukee, WI 53201 ------------------------------ From: Rob.Aronson@dss.fw.gs.com (Rob Aronson) Date: 25 May 1994 07:13:50 -0400 Subject: Re: Employee looking up your license plate number Apparently in New York State you can pay a yearly fee to DMV and get access to their computers so that you can do plate checks (get registered owners, etc.) The security department at the university I attended made use of this for parking violation notices. If you didn't pay the ticket that they placed on your windshield they'd mail a notice to your home address. A friend of mine once worked for a towing company and they had this access also. He always offered to run plates for me as long as I was reasonably sure that they weren't stolen vehicles. He said that if a vehicle was stolen they would be questioned about why they were running that plate. I'm not sure if the DMV places any restrictions on this service, i.e. I don't know if it's open to any individual. ------------------------------ End of Computer Privacy Digest V4 #071 ****************************** .