FBI will tap into personal profiles

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | 8/03/2002 | Bruce V. Bigelow

[dalereed]

Scarry stuff!

[dalereed]

The only thing holding back a total police state now is funding and personel.

[Donald Stone]

Excerpt from New York Times article 8/22/02:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 — The nation's secret intelligence court has identified more than 75 cases in which it says it was misled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in documents in which the bureau attempted to justify its need for wiretaps and other electronic surveillance, according to the first of the court's rulings to be released publicly.

The opinion by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which was issued in May but made public today by Congress, is stinging in its criticism of the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, which the court suggested had tried
to defy the will of Congress by allowing intelligence material to be shared freely with criminal investigators.

In its opinion, the court rejected a secret request made by the Justice Department this year to allow broader cooperation and evidence-sharing between counterintelligence investigators and criminal prosecutors. The court found that the request was "not reasonably designed" to safeguard the privacy of Americans. The court generally operates in secret and is responsible for approving warrants to eavesdrop on people suspected of espionage or terrorism.

[Ramius]

The FBI should be denied access to public information?

[j271]

I wonder what kind of support there would be for an anonymity amendment to the constitution, stating that the federal government has no right to collect any information of any kind on citizens without their express written consent.

As public and private databases accumulate, the potential for abuse is only going to increase. Shouldn't the government step in now to protect citizens?

[dalereed]

I'm for stopping data collecting whether it be public or private other than that necessary to complete
a transaction and not be allowed to be stored in a database.

As far as i'm concerned it should be illegal to send direct mail advertising or do telemarketing. Of course I despise all advertising or have a salesman try to sell me anything and I can't think of one thing that i've ever bought because of an advertisment.

[Hostage]

"The key is not whether the FBI can access databases," Wisdom said. "The key is what they do with it. You have to trust your law enforcement community that even though they have access to privileged information, that they have the good judgment to use it properly."

Prior to Clinton, I would have gone along with this agent's sentiment.

Who of us doesn't want to support our government agents, to stand with them in proud patriotic unity?

But those same agents are capable of being manipulated by a vindictive group with a political agenda. And this is precisely why the ideas for the United States of America were framed as they were, to impede these developments.

The time for civil disobedience has arrived. Other than for the purpose of employment, the SSN should be denied to all that request it. This includes medical insurance plans, credit bureaus, supermarket chains, driver licensing bureaus, passport agencies, court dockets, banks and brokerages.

Our governments can proceed to track non-citizens with this scheme, but American citizens enjoy the rights given them by God unless they submit to those that view such rights as granted by government.

[Doctor Stochastic]

We don't need suspicion; we're just going fishin'.

[j271]

Good comments.

Considering how valuable consumer information is for companies, this information must be considered the property of its owner (the private citizen), with all the constitutional and statutory protection that implies.

Any transfer of this information to an entity that stands to profit from using it should be accompanied by a formal licensing agreement consented to by the citizen-owner, including applicable royalty payments to the citizen-owner and a fixed date of expiration for the licensing agreement.

Personal privacy, database use and abuse, and Americans' desire to remain anonymous will become huge issues as we head further into the 21st century.

[stimulate]

Much,much harder to track non-ciizens without use of SSN.It might even be impossible in practical terms.

[Hostage]

There is the alien registration number and there is capability to assign identifiers to non-citizen travelers as part of their visa documents and their passport checks.

It is not difficult to track aliens.

It is more difficult to reverse the mindsets of LEOs who are more than happy to access all of our private matters. They enjoy the thrill in the same manner as a peeping Tom staring through someone's window or a hunter following animal tracks through the forrest. It is a game.

When tracking terrorists, the game is condoned. When spying on anyone and everyone, the game is over.

The real problem is in tracking the terrorist cells that already exist on American soil. They exist because they were not tracked from the outset. But it is not cumbersome to file a request for a wiretap on persons suspected of association with an alleged terrorist cell. Therefore the trend must be reversed.

[Hostage]

At the very least, Congress should audit the performance of law enforcement agencies that use these databases. The audit should include a comparison evaluation with arrest and conviction outcomes against traditional data utility. If there is no clear and substantial improvement attributable to accessing massive commercial databases, the access priviledges must be denied.

The SSN, public commercialization of personal data and privacy is a campaign issue that will see alot of growth in the next few years.

[Hostage]

Good points and proposals. I completely agree. Have you written of this to any legislator offices?

[MileHi]

Anyone have a link to such a website?

[goo goo g'joob]

Do you mean Hillary is going to give them access to her files?

[RightWhale]

Most people don't have a clue that such databases compile information from a variety of sources, linking their names to their Social Security numbers, credit profiles, employment histories, travel records, court records, personal interests and chronic health conditions.

It's as if Vance Packard's 1965 book, "The Naked Society," had never existed. None of this is new.

[schmelvin]

The time for civil disobedience has arrived. Other than for the purpose of employment, the SSN should be denied to all that request it. This includes medical insurance plans, credit bureaus, supermarket chains, driver licensing bureaus, passport agencies, court dockets, banks and brokerages.

My hubby and I have always refused to give our social security numbers out to those who have no right to ask us for this information. We carry a copy of the law with us at all times, which specifies who may legally ask us for this info and more importantly states the severity of the penalties for those insisting on this info when they have no legal right to it. It works like a charm. (Although, I must admit our main concern had always been identity theft rather than the government's ability to track us.)

I'm getting very tired of the government expanding its snooping powers over anyone and everyone, when we all know who poses the real threat. If FBI agents hadn't been so busy chasing every American with a gun & a copy of the US Constitution, they might have been more aware of what Mr. Atta and his pals were up to. This wide spectrum snooping is just more of the same unfocused BS that got us 9-11.

Instead of setting up an elaborate system of database profiling, they need to drop the PC nonsense and do the kind of profiling that will get them real results. Otherwise they're just wasting their time, manpower, and money. (What the government does best, eh?)

I really don't want the government tracking my purchases. My book buying habits alone could give them the wrong idea, since I tend to read up on a wide range of topics from varying viewpoints, sometimes agreeing with the authors, sometimes wanting to throttle them.

Tracking me would be quite an undertaking though, requiring more than one agent for sure, because no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get anyone to spell my last name right. It drives me batty sometimes. And, the spelling boondoggles keep getting worse as the number of "English as a 2nd language" speakers increases. (sigh)

[schmelvin]

I found a cool site that may be helpful:

"Frequently Asked Questions on SSNs and Privacy"

http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/ssn.faq.html

[Uncle Bill]

"Acxiom Corp. of Little Rock, Ark., compiles information from many sources, then uses advanced data-mining techniques to produce specialized marketing lists. In this way, Acxiom can identify thousands or millions of people who fit particular profiles: for instance, 18-to 28-year-old men who purchase certain products or drive certain cars."

Isn't that special?

I'm sorry, but well, you're a terrorist

Be prepared, plan ahead, the government is

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[freebilly]

I can't think of one thing that i've ever bought because of an advertisment.

Sure....