Date: Mon, 27 Jun 94 06:53:46 EST Errors-To: Comp-privacy Error Handler From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator To: Comp-privacy@uwm.edu Subject: Computer Privacy Digest V4#082 Computer Privacy Digest Mon, 27 Jun 94 Volume 4 : Issue: 082 Today's Topics: Moderator: Leonard P. Levine PRIVACY JOURNAL Promotion Privacy Codes of Practice Get Your Files & More Re: Information Required by Employer Re: License Plate Numbers Re: SSNs, Drivers and Students in Kentucky Re: Physical Location via Cell Phone Re: Local Law Enforcement BBS 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: Robert Ellis Smith <0005101719@mcimail.com> Date: 24 Jun 94 15:34 EST Subject: PRIVACY JOURNAL Promotion Here are the headlines from the current issue of PRIVACY JOURNAL. If you would like A FREE COPY of the newsletter, specify hardcopy or electronic edition and write or call PRIVACY JOURNAL, PO Box 28577, Providence RI 02908. 401/274- 7861, e-mail 0005101719@micmail.com. IMPLANTING ID MICROCHIPS IN HUMANS NO LONGER FAR FETCHED THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY ISN'T THE ONLY ONE WIRED STATES OPPOSE FCC ON CALLER ID REGULATION FBI ADDS TO DIGITAL TELEPHONY PROPOSAL COMPROMISE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING BILL PASSES HOUSE NY COURT TAKES WIDER VIEW OF COMPUTER CRIME LAW ------------------------------ From: Darren Osadchuk Date: 24 Jun 94 18:17:03 PDT Subject: Privacy Codes of Practice Hi there. My name is Darren Osadchuk, and I'm the research assistant for Prof. Colin J. Bennett here at the University of Victoria. I was hoping that some of you out there would be able to pass along any information that you might have on privacy codes of practice. Part of the study being undertaken involves an analysis of the Canadian and international experience(s) with the implementation of non-legislative codes of practice as well as the oversight and compliance mechanisms employed. Specific attention is being paid to the following sectors: 1. Banking. 2. Insurance. 3. Direct Marketing. 4. Telecommunications, specifically: a. Telephone service; b. Cable television service. What would be of particular use would be information concerning the existence of such codes, and how I could go about obtaining a copy of them. If you know of any that have been posted and are available via Gopher or anonymous FTP, or have an address that I could write to, and could pass that info along to me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: glr@ripco.com (Glen Roberts) Date: 25 Jun 1994 23:02:03 GMT Subject: Get Your Files & More Organization: RCI, Chicago, IL Directory of Fax on Demand Documents. To receive any of these, call (708) 356-9646 from your fax. Follow the prompts and press start when asked to. You'll immediately receive the information. Please note, document #'s in the 600s and 900s are strictly informative in nature. Doc# Pages Description ---- ----- ----------- 500 4 Superior Broadcasting Company Catalog 501 1 Full Disclosure Magazine 502 1 Market your product, service or idea here! (very affordable) 503 1 Market your product or service on Full Disclosure Live! 504 1 T-Shirt's With an Attitude! 505 1 No record -- No Trace -- No Caller-ID -- No ANI phone calling! 506 1 Attention: All Personal Computer Users! 600 1 Fill-in-the-Blank FBI file request form 601 1 Fill-in-the-Blank SSN protection form 602 2 Fill-in-the-Blank Medical Information Bureau Request form 610 2 Article on how to "Get Your Files" 611 3 A Mystery or Not -- What you don't know about 800#'s 612 6 "SECRET" FBI memos on Glen L. Roberts / Full Disclosure 900 1 First Amendment Documents Index (true believers ONLY!) This service is provided by the Superior Broadcasting Company. Listen to Full Disclosure Live on WWCR, 5,810 khz, Sunday's 7pm/central. -- Glen L. Roberts, Publisher, Directory of Elect Surv Equip Suppliers Host Full Disclosure Live (WWCR 5,810 khz - Sundays 7pm central) Box 734, Antioch, Illinois 60002 Fax: (708) 838-0316 Voice/FAX on demand: (708) 356-9646 [MODERATOR: If some reader would like to report on the quality of this offering, I am sure we would all appreciate seeing that report.] ------------------------------ From: hibbert@netcom.com (Chris Hibbert) Date: 24 Jun 1994 20:33:33 GMT Subject: Re: Information Required by Employer Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) In the U.S. the SSN is to apply credits to your SS account so that you can receive payments when you retire. This isn't really true, though SSA tries to make you believe it without ever explicitly saying so. The ammount you can get out is not limited by the amount you put in. If you don't want to collect their used to be provisions that you didn't have to pay. You aren't allowed to opt out of the system, by refusing to pay into SSA. I don't believe that was ever an option for individuals. Various groups, including congress and other government employees had the choice, at one point, as a group, of being part of SSA or a private pension scheme. No individual was ever allowed to opt out, and groups don't get to make that choice again. We also have alternate form of tracking income. an individual can apply for a tax ID number (TIN) to use instead of a SSN. There is no requirment to have a SSN to track income. The IRS uses an individual's Social Security Number as the TIN. If you are a US citizen, you have to get an SSN in order to file taxes. Non-citizens who are allowed to work here can get an SSN so their income can be reported, and so they can file taxes, too. -- Chris Hibbert protecting privacy in the computer age is hibbert@netcom.com like trying to change a tire on a moving car. ------------------------------ From: dcrawfo2@mason1.gmu.edu (Daniel C Crawford) Date: 25 Jun 1994 01:09:12 GMT Subject: Re: License Plate Numbers Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA Eugene Tyurin (gene@insti.physics.sunysb.edu) wrote: Can I find out a person's phone or address if I know his license plate #? If that matters -- I'm in NY state. Thanks a lot! Sure, call the DMV and tell them that you saw someone with plate XYZ drive off and they left something on the curb? No, actually, there are procedures available which you can probably glance through at the library by looking for books on begin a private eye. -- though I kinda like my way. ------------------------------ From: resch@cpcug.digex.net (Gregory Resch) Date: 25 Jun 1994 03:50:55 GMT Subject: Re: SSNs, Drivers and Students in Kentucky Organization: Capital PC User Group Rockville, MD USA Lowell Gilbert (lowell@bu.edu) wrote: Is this in fact the case? Can anyone confirm this statistically? Massachusetts, for one, has recently stopped assigning SSNs as driver's license numbers. But my experience is too limited to try to project in general. After a woman complained a year or two ago, Maryland (Motor Vehicle Administration) stopped insisting on getting SSANs on driver's- license applications and renewals. Judging from the statements of the MVA head as quoted in the news reports, however, I'm not convinced the practice is dead forever. ------------------------------ From: es@crl.com (Eric Smith) Date: 25 Jun 1994 00:00:41 -0700 Subject: Re: Physical Location via Cell Phone Bernie Cosell wrote: Again, this strikes me as excessively alarmist. Even if such a fine-grained breakdown becomes possible, it seems to me that it is easily thwarted simply by not using a cellular phones. It is just another of the many iterations of the same old tune: are you willing to trade a little convenience for a little privacy. No "Risks", no "grand conspiracies", no rhetorical "think about how bad the future will be", just a simple "those who care about the tradeoff won't make it, and those who don't care will". I see neither a risk nor a privacy problem here... just SOP stuff... Just like now if you ask to be paid in cash you might be suspected of tax evasion or of being an illegal alien, sometime in the future if you buy a new car and request that it not have a cellular phone in it, you might be suspected of planning to use that car for a crime. Car phones might even be made hard to turn off when it is found that people who want to turn off their car phones tend to be criminals. The same attitude now might still apply then: "If you don't have anything to hide, why are you worried about it?" There might even come a time when car phone tampering for the purpose of obstructing possible criminal investigations will be made illegal, such that if you tamper with your phone to allow you to turn it off, you can go to jail even if you commit no other crime. I can just see one cop saying to another, "That car just passed me at 58 MPH in a 55 zone and his car phone is dead. Call for backup, he might be armed." Even without a law against car phone tampering, it might still warn cops that you might be a dangerous criminal trying to hide, causing them to stop you for minor infractions they would otherwise ignore. Even if only 95% of the population has car phones, the cops might still be more inclined to stop the other 5% for that same reason. They might even use the car phone itself as the excuse. "I saw you drive by looking a little dazed, so I tried to call you to see if you were ok, but your phone was dead. Oh, you don't have a phone? Sorry, I didn't know that. Anyway, have a nice day, and I'm glad to find that you don't have any contrabrand on board. Oh, don't worry about being late, just tell your boss you were stopped by mistake." ------------------------------ From: khinedi@bu.edu (Kareem Hinedi) Date: 26 Jun 1994 00:31:14 GMT Subject: Re: Local Law Enforcement BBS Organization: Boston University Al Cohan (0004526627@mcimail.com) wrote: In today's Los Angeles Times there was an article on how with West Valley Division of the Los Angeles Police Department has set up a BBS. Apparently this is a trial basis for citizens to contact the police department to find out information of interest to the community. In addition there was some mention of obtaining graphics and asking questions in some sort of public forum. I believe a police department (county level) in Marland has set up a similiar system. They will include information off the daily log (omitting juvinile names and part of the street adress). This was in the Washington Post several weeks (months ?) back -- Kareem A. Hinedi Boston University School of Public Health ------------------------------ End of Computer Privacy Digest V4 #082 ****************************** .