Stop the Creation of a National Database of Personal Information

[rodeodance]

This arrived as an email to me.

From:Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU

To:ACLU Action Network Members

Subject:
Help Stop the Creation of a National Database of Personal Information



The rise in identity theft has impacted many of our lives. Just today, for example, data broker LexisNexis reported that personal information on 310,000 U.S. citizens may have been stolen.

Now, several Members of Congress are pushing legislation that would compile your most personal information, such as your name, address, social security number and perhaps even your DNA, into a national database. This giant network would then be accessible by numerous government officials and shared with Mexican and Canadian bureaucracies, dramatically increasing the risk of your personal information being stolen and abused.

Take Action! Urge Congress to oppose legislation that would result in a national ID and imperil your personal privacy.

This proposed legislation would create a national system to store your personal contact information and personal biometric information, which could include your fingerprints, DNA or retinal scans. It would drastically alter who has access to your personal information. Thousands of government employees across North America would have access to these personal details, and hackers, thieves, terrorists and organized criminals would have a single one-shop destination for identity theft.

Based on the outcry by concerned activists like you, the legislation’s supporters know they cannot get it to pass as an independent bill in the Senate so they are trying to attach it to an unrelated appropriations bill.

A vote is expected later this week and we need you to contact your Senators and urge them to oppose adding this ill-conceived legislation to the supplemental appropriations bill.

Click here for more information and to contact your Senators:

http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=17982&c=39

[slackmaster]

1. They rightly oppose this, but not national gun registration

That's why I stopped sending the ACLU money many years ago.

Fucking hypocrites IMO.

[politicaholic]

2. done

[rodeodance]

3. they are doing the trick of attaching it to another bill--brats!

[dbeach]

4. Natl database..natl IDs..Pat Act..all designed to protect the elites from

the citizens cuz if the truth is ever revealed about their many suspected crimes..then most of these pols will be in prison ..where they belong..

[rodeodance]

5. called the "Real ID" Act---vote coming up end of week (sneaky)

....The proposed legislation would create a centralized network of your most personal information. The system would include your full name, address, driving history and social security number. It would also include biometric information, which would include your DNA, retinal scans or fingerprints.

Action Alerts: Star Bullet The resulting network would be a rich target for hackers and identity thieves. Not only would hackers and identity thieves aggressively target this centralized system, thousands of government workers in the United States, Mexico and Canada would have access to this personal information. If the REAL ID Act is passed, incidents of abuse and identity theft are likely to skyrocket.

Action Alerts: Star Bullet This bill would impose federal control over the issuance of state drivers licenses, even if this violates the state’s own policies. The use of state motor vehicle agencies as agents of the federal immigration service would also lead to an increase in unlicensed drivers, undermining public safety and increasing insurance rates for everyone. Motor vehicles employees lack training in federal immigration law, and are likely instead to rely on ethnic profiling based on notions of who "looks foreign."

[The Doctor.]

6. Read some cyberpunk novels...

and you'll know how to take advantage of this stuff.

I recommend William Gibson to start.

[doodadem]

7. Wonder which members of Congress

are sponsoring this legislation? And what else it is tacked onto?The article doesn't say. I also don't see how they're going to get the biometric info they're talking about--most people have not been fingerprinted or retinal scanned.

[rodeodance]

8. that info can be added later--this bill give authority to gather the info