Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 08:53:07 EST Errors-To: Comp-privacy Error Handler From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator To: Comp-privacy@uwm.edu Subject: Computer Privacy Digest V5#027 Computer Privacy Digest Mon, 29 Aug 94 Volume 5 : Issue: 027 Today's Topics: Moderator: Leonard P. Levine Re: National Registry: Equifax for Driving Records? Credit Reporting Online Stalking Re: Electronic Cash Sprint Voice card and SSN Re: Bank Account Numbers Scanning Students Educational Information Privacy --------------------------------------------------------------------- Housekeeping information is located at the end of this Digest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: PHILS@RELAY.RELAY.COM (Philip H. Smith III, (703) 506-0500) Date: 25 Aug 94 10:18:28 EDT Subject: Re: National Registry: Equifax for Driving Records? David M. Bruce said: According to some personal accounts, this database is full of eroneous and outdated information, and in many cases, the drivers have to bear the burden of correcting the errors. According to Wired Magazine, DMV databases are some of the most accurate databases in the United States. At the risk of stating the obvious (and no, I'm not implying that DMB said anything in particular with his comment, so no flames) the two are not mutually exclusive. Which is pretty scary in and of itself... ...phsiii ------------------------------ From: Zaf Date: 25 Aug 1994 10:28:33 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Credit Reporting Does someone know how to get a copy of ones credit report? Any help would be appreciated. ------------------------------ From: "BETH GIVENS" Date: 25 Aug 1994 9:34:09 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Online Stalking Regarding "What can one do with an e-mail address...Try to stalk me? Haha." We got a call on the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse hotline last year from a woman who was being stalked via e-mail at her job. The stalker worked on the same campus and also made his presence known in the building in which she worked. Because of the persistence of the messages and the threats they contained, she left her job and moved to another city. -- Beth Givens, PRC ------------------------------ From: mckeever@cogsci.uwo.ca (Paul McKeever) Date: 25 Aug 1994 19:20:23 GMT Subject: Re: Electronic Cash Organization: University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. Canada Several people have responded to my comment regarding photocopy cards (i.e., a reference to them) as the point of my article was somehow that local debit cards are somehow better than centralized debit cards. I want to point out that the comments I've received are quite valid, but that they miss the intended message of my comment. My point was that the problem with *ANY* system of digital cash (local debit or centralized debit) is that: A DIGITAL CASH SYSTEM OF CREDIT TRANSFER IS HIGHLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO *GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION* THAT WOULD MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO (FOR EXAMPLE) USE ENCRYPTION THAT WAS NOT KEY-ESCROWED, OR THAT WAS 'TOO STRONG', OR THAT WOULD MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO TRANSFER CREDITS ANONYMOUSLY: JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO MIMICK THE ANONYMITY AND PRIVACY INHERENT IN BILLS AND COINS VIA DIGITAL CREDIT TRANSFERS *doesn't* MEAN THAT YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO USE THE TECHNOLOGY. In contrast, the transfer of cash is hand to hand: it does not involve the use of machines which are easily regulated by government. Thus, the anonymity and privacy provided by the passing of PHYSICAL tokens (paper and coin) is much more secure than that which is *possible*, but easily made illegal to use, via encryption technology. I am not qualified to comment on the strength of a given form of encryption, but I am quite qualified to speak about the law and human psychology, and it is within the topical boundaries of the latter two subjects that my comment is intended to reside. So far, nobody has commented on this, the human nature related side of the digital cash issue, and I think it bears directly on the question "IS THE STRENGTH OF ENCRYPTION THE ONLY ISSUE, OR IS MIGHT THE PROGRESS OF PEOPLE SUCH AS DAVID CHAUM BE IN VAIN, GIVEN THE TENDENCIES OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE HUMANS OF WHICH IT IS CONSISTED?". Regards, Paul ------------------------------ From: robert.heuman@rose.com (robert heuman) Date: 25 Aug 1994 23:50:17 GMT Subject: Sprint Voice card and SSN Organization: Rose Media Inc, Toronto, Ontario. dunn@nlm.nih.gov (Joe Dunn) said: BTW, I am very curious about the SIN in Canada. I saw that last year that Canada also started taxing the "wealthy" recipients of SIN, along the same lines imposed in the US. Is the SIN in as bad a shape as the SS system? At least, that's what we're told. In order to save the SS system this tax is necessary. You all fed the same line?? Or am I just being conspiratorial that all these events seem to happen simulaniously?? Translation required on this one. Canada has always 'taxed' the wealthy receiptients of SIN, in the sense that the SIN is used by the DNR (Department of National Revenue) to identify the individual filing a tax return. You must have a SIN to put on the tax return even if you are only filing to GET money via the Tax System. This can happen if you have little or no income, and are due a GST rebate, etc. On the other hand, there is a claw back re SOME of the money a senior gets from the government if that senior has lots of income. There are TWO government 'pensions' in Canada, and not just the one called Social Security the US has. One is called OAP (Old Age Pension) and is NON-CONTIBUTORY. Everyone living in Canada gets this pension based on their residency in Canada after age 18. There is another called CPP (Canada Pension Plan (Quebec Pension Plan in Quebec)) which is contributory, similar to SS in the US. The claw back is on the OAP, not on the CPP. One the other size of the balance sheet, if a senior's income is too low, the OAP is upped above the base amount with a supplimentary benefit. I do not believe this is the same as a claw-back in the US, which must be applied to SS. Please correct me if I am wrong, and feel free to let me know if this is what you meant, because otherwise your "taxing the "wealthy" receipients of SIN" does not make sense. There is no SIN to tax, since it is merely a NUMBER, similar to the US SSN. It is NOT a payment, such as SS or OAP or CPP. -- R.S. (Bob) Heuman |My opinions are my own, and only my own! rn.1886@rose.com |They are NOT those of my employer....... ------------------------------ From: wayne@arrow.HIP.berkeley.edu (Wayne Christian) Date: 27 Aug 1994 19:27:09 GMT Subject: Re: Bank Account Numbers Organization: University of California, Berkeley skypatrl@crl.com (Albert Zhou) says: John Palkovic writes: amy young-leith writes: I was just thinking today.... "Am I the only one bothered by this new gimick of "Have your payment deducted monthly from your checking account...." thing I'm seeing everywhere. There are extensive laws to protect consumers in the case of billing dispute in the U.S. That is, you can refuse to pay if you think the bill is incorrect. You'd be out of luck if the payment has been automatically paid before you see the bill. This is incorrect EFT is controlled by a similar set of laws as credit cards. You have 60 days to dispute a transfer. You simply contact your bank and inform them that a EFT was not authorized. The bank will investigate and can leave the charge on if there is enough evidence that the charge was correct. HOWEVER even if you allow a merchant or utility direct access to your account that does not mean you authorize any and all transactions you can still dispute individual transactions. You can for example claim that the amount of the bill was incorrect or that a bill was paid twice. My experience is that the bank will reverse the charge simply on your statement that the charge is unauthorized, however banks will differ in their proceedures. However the mechanism for EFT may cause some confusion. If you authorize a merchant for EFT than any and all subsequent transactions by that merchant will be automatically posted to your account. The only remedy for an abusive merchant will be to close the account and open another. Merchants can put money in and take money out. IT is your responsibility to review your statement and contest any charges you dispute. Again you have 60 days - a transaction is not final just becuase it appears on your bill. If your bank makes it difficult for you to dispute a transaction this is grounds for a suit against the bank, or you can find another bank or you can stop using EFT because it means you have to carefully review your account, not because you cannot control the transactions. One of the pieces of paper you got when you opened the account explained the rules governing EFT, it is available from your bank at your request. You have to ask about Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). My experience with electronic bill paying services (ie checkfree) is not good. These operations use EFT just like merchants and seem to have a high error rate although they are more professional that merchants. While you typically initiate the transfer by sending them a message they can also debit your account whenever they like for any purpose. Read the rules on EFT! Most merchants want to behave, but this is new to their operations departments and they have problems with errors and with finding documentation. I have given up using EFT because of the hassle, but never lost any money and always found it easier to dispute an EFT than a credit charge. ------------------------------ From: "Mich Kabay [NCSA Sys_Op]" <75300.3232@compuserve.com> Date: 28 Aug 94 13:12:48 EDT Subject: Scanning Students from the Associated Press newswire (94.08.26): Scanning Students By JEFF DONN Associated Press Writer "SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Reminder to students: Bring your pencils, pads, books and computerized ID card this fall. "This city's public schools began introducing the security cards last year to avoid stolen meal tickets and bus passes, while keeping better track of meals and students. Administrators hope later to employ the cards to bar suspended students and other intruders from school." Key points in the article: o Bar-coded cards are scanned by laser scanners similar to grocery store units. o Help exclude intruders or suspended students. o Used to pay for meals and eliminate stigma from subsidies. o Track library borrowings. o Record presence and timeliness. o Used on school and city buses; will help reduce truancy, theft of bus passes, and transport costs to school district (by billing for rides used instead of potential rides). o Might be used to grant discounts from cooperating area businesses for outstanding students. o Massachusetts Civil Liberties Union warns, "There's going to have to be serious thought given to who has access to the information and under what circumstances." M.E.Kabay,Ph.D./DirEd/Natl Computer Security Assn ------------------------------ From: rwing!peterm@ole.cdac.com (Peter Marshall) Date: 28 Aug 94 22:01:43 GMT Subject: Educational Information Privacy Organization: Totally Unorganized Frieda Bush, "Initiatives May Invade Privacy," OLYMPIAN, 8/27/94: The state superintendent's office will launch two initiatives this fall that will bring schools and the agency into the technology age. But those same programs lack the safeguards needed to protect the privacy of students and school workers, industry watchdogs warn. In two weeks, the superintendent's office will choose a consultant to advise the agency on building a statewide student database. The $100,000 contract will help the state merge disparate databases on student enrollment... said Bob Schley, director of information services. Included in the data is student test scores, ethnicity, dropout rates and family income levels. But the agency's guidelines for the project ask for a database that can cross-tabulate numbers and show relationships.... And that's where the agency steps into the area of privacy, said Peter Marshall.... "In order to design a statewide student database, a student identifier is needed," Marshall said. And Marshall, along with...the American Civil Liberties Union, worry that the most likely identifier will be the student's Social Security number.... ACLU spokesman Gerry Sheehan...has the same concerns about a draft technology plan for the public schools that will go before...education committees next month.... The most onerous of the plan's recommendations is "communication linkages among all the stakeholders in a child's life....." "The stakeholders notion gives me the willies," Sheehan said. -- Peter Marshall (peterm@rwing.uucp, rocque@seanews.akita.com) ------------------------------ The Computer Privacy Digest is a forum for discussion on the effect of technology on privacy or vice versa. 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". People with gopher capability can access the library at gopher.cs.uwm.edu. Mosaic users will find it at gopher://gopher.cs.uwm.edu. Archives are also held at ftp.pica.army.mil [129.139.160.133]. End of Computer Privacy Digest V5 #027 ****************************** .