PRIVACY Forum Digest Saturday, 17 June 1995 Volume 04 : Issue 13
Moderated by Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com) Vortex Technology, Woodland Hills, CA, U.S.A. ===== PRIVACY FORUM =====
The PRIVACY Forum digest is supported in part by the ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy, and the Data Services Division of MCI Communications Corporation.
CONTENTS Senate Passes Telecom Reform Act (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator) Why can't I see Equifax medical records? (Jay Ashworth) Comedy Central's UID and Password Shown on TV (Dr. Frederick B. Cohen) Re: Thermal Imagery Used To Search Homes (Leif Bennett) Real X-Ray vision coming to an airport or courthouse near you? (Curt Bramblett) Whether one uses tobacco not a privacy issue in Florida (Curt Bramblett) Re: Thermal Imagery Used To Search Homes (Phil Brown) Conference Announcement: Telemedicine and the Law, July 13th - 14th (Bill Halverson) Privacy Conference (WLRGSH@ritvax.isc.rit.edu)
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VOLUME 04, ISSUE 13
Quote for the day:
"We must burn the books, Montag. *All* the books!"
-- The Captain (Cyril Cusack) "Fahrenheit 451" (1966)
Date: Sat, 17 Jun 95 12:10 PDT From: lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator) Subject: Senate Passes Telecom Reform Act
Greetings. On June 15, the U.S. Senate passed a Telecommunications Reform/Deregulation act, which, if enacted into law, would have far-reaching effects not only on Americans but by extension throughout much of the world. Unfortunately, many of these impacts would be decidedly negative, and indicate that mechanisms within Congress remain unable to deal with highly technical matters in a very logical manner.
Similar enough events have occurred in the relatively recent past. Airline deregulation was supposed to increase choices to consumers--in fact the result has been massive consolidation among a few very large companies and wide ticket price and service availability aberrations. Congress insisted on massive funding of SDI while most reputable scientists--even many working on SDI-related projects, insisted that it was an impossible dream as drafted. When technical realities didn't mesh with political goals, the technical realities were pushed as far into the background as possible.
And now we have telecom "reform". While supposedly enhancing competition, it appears more likely that it will result in the same sort of consolidation that occurred with the airline industry, with a resulting *reduction* of actual, *practical* choices for most ordinary consumers. It also deregulates areas (such as cable television) before any practical competition really exists. Consumers have a right to be very concerned about the prospects.
While the bill seems to be a deregulation giveaway in most respects, it is a regulatory bonanza for those who would regulate speech. The latest revision of Senator Exon's "Communications Decency Act" is incorporated into the bill, as is "V-chip" regulation to supposedly control access to "violent" TV programming by children. (One can't help but wonder if "Roadrunner" cartoons will fall into this net? Or the evening news?)
The act introduces a wide range of speech prohibitions and onerous penalties to online services and the Internet, both of which have become the latest "whipping boys" of political opportunity as of late. Many of these prohibitions do *not* exist for other forms of communications (e.g. books). The online services and Internet apparently have become the target for special treatment as particular evils.
By attempting to control such speech categories as "annoying", and "indecent", in addition to "obscene", the provisions of the act appear to fly squarely in the face of Constitutional protections and Supreme Court decisions. While it's clear that obscene speech is not protected (though how to reasonably apply the "community standards" tests in global computer networks without resulting in a "lowest common denominator" approach is unclear), these other forms of speech are a different matter.
To be fair, when reading the actual text of the Exon portion of the bill, it's pretty obvious what the goals were--some of which are indeed laudable. It's also clear that as written significant parts of it are unwise, unworkable, and, I suspect, unconstitutional.
As I've expressed here before, there is general agreement that there needs to be responsibility in material made available via network systems, as via other media. Parents need to begin taking responsibility for how their children spend their time. Reasonable mechanisms need to be provided so parents can limit those areas that their children should be permitted to access.
But we should not allow the computer networks, or the rest of media for that matter, to become micro-managed, lowest common denominator information guardians, being used as convenient scapegoats for all the ills of society that we as a people don't seem to have the will to address at a core level.
While I'm not always in agreement with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), I find myself in essential agreement with them as regards this issue and the current Senate act. You can obtain detailed analysis and action materials from EFF regarding this matter as it moves to the House of Representatives. You can contact EFF via:
--- --- ---
Web Sites URL:http://www.panix.com/vtw/exon/ URL:http://epic.org/ URL:http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/ URL:http://www.cdt.org/cda.html
Email: vtw@vtw.org (put "send help" in the subject line) cda-info@cdt.org (General CDA information) cda-stat@cdt.org (Current status of the CDA)
--- --- ---
--Lauren--
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Date: Sat, 3 Jun 1995 11:09:42 -0400 From: jra@baylink.com (Jay Ashworth) Subject: Why can't I see Equifax medical records?
G Martin <gmartin@freenet.columbus.oh.us> writes, in v4/12: > We recently received notice that interest on our charge card was going > from 17% to 24%. A form enclosed with the notice said something > interesting that I'm hoping some of you can help us to understand. Here > is an exceprt from what it said: [ . . . ] > You have the right to a full disclosure of the nature and substance of all > information (except medical) in the agency's files. Should you desire to > obtain additional information pertaining to this file, please contact the > consumer credit reporting agency directly.
I'll tackle this one, based on information from a friend who used to be a credit approval person for Jewelers Financial Services, the credit division of Zale's corporation.
He told me that there was a general convention in the credit business that medical creditors _only_ looked at your _medical_ credit entries, and that all other types of creditors customarily _ignored_ your medical credit; there's (according to him) a kind of Chinese Wall between the two sides of the house. I suspect that may be what they are trying (so inartfully, to steal a _great_ word) to say.
We'd all, I'm sure, be interested to know if this is really the answer, though.
Cheers, -- jra
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Date: Sun, 4 Jun 1995 17:16:31 -0400 (EDT) From: fc@all.net (Dr. Frederick B. Cohen) Subject: Comedy Central's UID and Password Shown on TV
In a classic move, Comedy Central (the all comedy cable channel) annouced their World Wide Web site on the air (comcentral.com) and provided the world with a user ID and password.
The obvious question - Why bother to have a user ID and password when you announce it on national TV? Naturally the UID and password were closely related English dictionary words related to comedy central's theme - but what the heck - if you're going to announce it on national TV, why bother making it strong anyway.
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Date: Tue, 6 Jun 1995 09:18:53 PDT From: LBennett.El_Segundo@xerox.com Subject: Re: Thermal Imagery Used To Search Homes
If memory (from 1987) serves, case law on the 4th Amendment holds that unaided perception from outside the premises does not require a warrant, but that aided perception may. I do not have the citation handy, but I believe the case involved a helicopter-based search of a back yard, in which binoculars were used to inspect for the presence of marijuana plants. The court held that this was an illegal search, as the presence of the illegal plants could not be percieved without mechanical aid, and that the back yard was fenced well enough to have an expectation of privacy.
I believe a subsequent case established that confirming the results of unaided perception with mechanical aids was NOT a protected search. The explanation I remember was that if a LE agent observes a crime without engaging in an illegal search, forms the opinion that it is a crime, and then uses mechanical aids to confirm his unaided observations, no illegal search has occurred.
Either of these may have been judged under California's laws, and not U.S. law. I saw the citations in a 1987 version of a publication of California's POST Commission, whose title contained the words "Legal Sourcebook;" the publication covered both US and California law.
I am not a lawyer (nor do I play one on TV...) This is from memory. If the accuracy or legal correctness of this matters to you, please consult a more authoratative source.
Leif Bennett
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Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 07:02:48 -0400 From: zzbramblettc@acad.winthrop.edu (CURT BRAMBLETT) Subject: Real X-Ray vision coming to an airport or courthouse near you?
In an article attributed to _The New York Times_ (_The State_ (Columbia SC), May 12, 1995), a Department of Energy laboratory reports development of a radar-based security device that can peer through someone's clothing. The scanners would be used to inspect a person's body for concealed weapons and explosives.
Engineers at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory in Richland WA have developed working prototypes of these holographic radar scanners. Personal modesty is not an issue. Both a walk-in booth that can scan an entire body and a hand-held device use ultra-wideband radar technology. The result is displayed on tiny video monitors built into the operator's glasses.
The high-frequency radar reveals only anatomical details larger than one-half inch, but such resolution easily distinguishes between male and female anatomy. Unlike conventional metal detectors, the radar scanners can look for concealed nonmetallic objects, such as nonmetallic bombs and explosives and carbon-fiber daggers.
A leader of the project said that "the relatively high price of such devices may already be acceptable for some applications." But an ACLU spokesman said he doubted that Americans would stand for it. The laboratory acknowledge that some airline passengers, jurors, federal office workers and others subjected to radar scanning might be offended.
[ Wow. *Real* "X-Ray Specs"! And they said you can't learn anything important from comic books... -- MODERATOR ]
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Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 07:03:29 -0400 From: zzbramblettc@acad.winthrop.edu (CURT BRAMBLETT) Subject: Whether one uses tobacco not a privacy issue in Florida
A City in Florida is within the law when it asks prospective employees to sign an affidavit that they have not used tobacco products for at least a year. The information is in James Kilpatrick's column for June 6, 1995 (_The State_ (Columbia SC))
The Florida Constitution includes this provision: "Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into his private life..." The City of North Miami asks applicants to sign the affidavit but does not prohibit current employees from smoking. The court says that smokers should be used to having to declare themselves, such as in restaurants or hotels, and therefore should have no expectation of privacy regarding that information. Dissenting justices expressed concern that other questions that could be inferred from the affidavit's rationale could cross the constitutional line.
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Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 17:09:53 -0400 From: "Brown, Phil" <pbrown@GTEMC.sprint.com> Subject: Re: Thermal Imagery Used To Search Homes
In Privacy 4.12, Padgett Peterson wrote >If one is walking down a street and overhears a conversation through a >window, is that "search"? If I need my hearing aids to do so, is that >different? If using my hearing aids I detect a passenger on an airplane >using a computer in violation of regs, is that? (Computers have a >characteristic whine when I am set to inductive pickup - assuming of course >that I could hear it though all that 400 hz noise). > >The question being, if the average person is deaf/blind/stupid to a certain >portion of the spectrum, do they have the "right" to expect that everyone is?
and
>So no, I do not think that detection of radiant energy is an illegal search >any more than listening to speech through a window from a sidewalk is so >long as trespass is not required to do so. Impolite maybe, but not illegal. >To me "freedom of speech" and "freedom of assembly" must imply "freedom to >listen" and those are "rights" in this country.
No, that is not the only question. Intent is also a factor, especially when considering actions of government agents. While there isn't a practical difference betweeen passing by a window and overhearing a conversation and standing under that window for hours *hoping* to overhear a conversation (the conversation, or "radiant emission" as Padgett puts it, is overheard either way), the intent *is* different. Similarly, monitoring a structure for thermal emissions once due cause has been established is quite reasonable, but conducting random infrared "sweeps" is every bit as chilling in its privacy implications as random wiretaps would be.
Of course, based on my limited information about the source post I really don't know if this debate is about arbitrary use of thermal imaging or if a claim is being made that any use of the technique constitutes an illegal search.
Padgett also raises (indirectly) an interesting point about communication and privacy expectations; namely, that information about us and our activities is conveyed in many ways beyond what we say and write and can be observed doing. Our "fingerprints" exist as energy in many forms; how much of existing social (and legal) custom should be extended to forms of information gathering only recently practicable? Padgett seems to take what I regard as a rather Darwinian view that we are responsible for anything we emit anywhere and must live with the consequences if we don't take preventive action. While that's true in a strictly survivalist sense (scenes from the Schwarzenegger movie "Predator" come to mind), I'm not sure I like the idea of modelling society in that fashion. Just a thought...
Phil Brown | Atlanta, GA, USA
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Date: Sat, 10 Jun 1995 09:02:42 -0700 From: Bill Halverson <wjhalv1@PacBell.COM> Subject: Conference Announcement: Telemedicine and the Law, July 13th - 14th
TELEMEDICINE & THE LAW A Landmark Conference: Resolving the Legal, Ethical and Policy Challenges to Medical Information Technology
WHEN: July 13-14, 1995 LOCATION: Pasadena Center, Pasadena, CA REGISTRATION: (303) 572-5490 CONFERENCE FEE: $695.00 (RECEIVED by 6-20) $795.00 (RECEIVED after 6-20) (MC/VISA welcome) NOTE: Seating limited to 250
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Judge Alex Kozinski - U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
SELECTED SPEAKERS: Don Beers, Esq. - Arnold & Porter Philip Burgess, PhD. - Center for the New West Troy Eid, Esq. - NIIT & Center for the New West Phyllis Granade, Esq. - Medical College of Georgia/Center for Telemedicine Matthew Heartney, Esq. - Arnold & Porter Kiki Pound - Pacific Bell, Health Care Market Group Sam Romeo, M.D. - University of Southern California, School of Medicine Leslie Sandberg - Center for the New West Jay Sanders,M.D. - Medical College of Georgia/Center for Telemedicine Art Schiller - Arthur D. Little & Value Creation Strategies Cary Sherman, Esq. - Arnold & Porter Robert Shives, Jr.,Esq. - Pacific Bell, Health Care Market Group Adele Waller, Esq. - Gardner, Carton & Douglas,Chicago,IL Honorable Pete Wilson - Governor of California (Invited)
You may request information electronically by sending the following info to:
telemedicine@esi.com
(No partial responses accepted.)
* Full Name * Telephone Number * Title * Fax Number * Company, Organization, Firm * Email Address * Complete Mailing Address * Internet Address
Sponsored by the Center for the New West and ARNOLD & PORTER, in conjunction with the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Pacific Bell and the National Information Infrastructure Testbed (NIIT).
This activity has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education by the State Bar of California in the amount of 15 hours; ARNOLD & PORTER certifies that this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California govern- ing minimum legal education.
Leslie Sandberg, Executive Director of the Institute for Telemedicine PH: 3035725477 Center for the New West EMail:las@minnesong.win.net
CALL FOR PAPERS for a Conference on Technological Assaults on Privacy, April 18-20, 1996 at the Rochester Institute of Technol- ogy, Rochester, New York. We are interested in a wide variety of issues regarding privacy that have arisen from recent technologi- cal advances--the capacity to eavesdrop, the debate regarding the Clipperchip, the capacity to create profiles of individuals for marketing purposes, and so on. Our concern is that we have a wide-ranging look at the state of assaults on privacy currently, in all its manifestations in our lives.
The Conference will be interdisciplinary. Participants will have 30 minutes to give their presentation, with comments and discus- sion for another 30 to 40 minutes. Papers will be available for the audience.
Papers should be single-spaced, suitable for xeroxing. Please send a copy of your paper to Prof. Wade Robison, Department of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623. Drafts should be postmarked by February 1, 1996. For additional information, contact Prof. Robison by e-mail at privacy@rit.edu, by FAX at (716) 475-7120, or by phone at (716) 475-6643. If you are interested in commenting or chairing a session, you should contact Prof. Robison.
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End of PRIVACY Forum Digest 04.13 ************************
