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- PRIVACY Forum Digest Friday, 24 March 1995 Volume 04 : Issue 07
-
- 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
- Perhaps privacy is not what it seems (Steve Mann)
- Re: How can files be 100% wiped? [linux encrypted swap]
- (eichin@mit.edu)
- How much is "enough"? (Tom Zmudzinski)
- Privacy issues in intelligent transportation systems
- (Phil Agre)
- Is Caller ID to be mandantory nationally, April, 1995?
- (Jim Warren)
- FCC delaying draconian CNID measures (Phil Agre)
-
-
- *** Please include a RELEVANT "Subject:" line on all submissions! ***
- *** Submissions without them may be ignored! ***
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- The Internet PRIVACY Forum is a moderated digest for the discussion and
- analysis of issues relating to the general topic of privacy (both personal
- and collective) in the "information age" of the 1990's and beyond. The
- moderator will choose submissions for inclusion based on their relevance and
- content. Submissions will not be routinely acknowledged.
-
- All submissions should be addressed to "privacy@vortex.com" and must have
- RELEVANT "Subject:" lines; submissions without appropriate and relevant
- "Subject:" lines may be ignored. Excessive "signatures" on submissions are
- subject to editing. Subscriptions are by an automatic "listserv" system; for
- subscription information, please send a message consisting of the word
- "help" (quotes not included) in the BODY of a message to:
- "privacy-request@vortex.com". Mailing list problems should be reported to
- "list-maint@vortex.com".
-
- All messages included in this digest represent the views of their
- individual authors and all messages submitted must be appropriate to be
- distributable without limitations.
-
- The PRIVACY Forum archive, including all issues of the digest and all
- related materials, is available via anonymous FTP from site "ftp.vortex.com",
- in the "/privacy" directory. Use the FTP login "ftp" or "anonymous", and
- enter your e-mail address as the password. The typical "README" and "INDEX"
- files are available to guide you through the files available for FTP
- access. PRIVACY Forum materials may also be obtained automatically via
- e-mail through the listserv system. Please follow the instructions above
- for getting the listserv "help" information, which includes details
- regarding the "index" and "get" listserv commands, which are used to access
- the PRIVACY Forum archive. All PRIVACY Forum materials are available
- through the Internet Gopher system via a gopher server on site
- "gopher.vortex.com". Access to PRIVACY Forum materials is also available
- through the Internet World Wide Web (WWW) via the Vortex Technology WWW
- server at the URL: "http://www.vortex.com".
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- VOLUME 04, ISSUE 07
-
- Quote for the day:
-
- "Rules are rules."
-
- "FBR" Agent Sullivan (Arte Johnson)
- "The President's Analyst" (1967)
-
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 12 Mar 95 14:57:19 -0500
- From: Steve Mann <steve@media.mit.edu>
- Subject: Perhaps privacy is not what it seems
-
- What would happen if all credit card records were accessible by everyone?
- Strange is it may seem, could it be that this might *enhance* privacy,
- because it would make us fully aware of just how much is know about us?
-
- Perhaps because it might also encourage people to look at the source of
- the problem rather than the symptom. Perhaps it would get people
- looking at alternatives like digicash, and using technology to protect
- their privacy rather than law. Instead of having technology continue
- to invade privacy more and more, and using law to hold it back, perhaps
- the technology itself could be used to enhance privacy.
-
- > attempt to get the subpoenas overturned. But the 13th company, American
- > Express did not, and instead voluntarily turned over *seven years* worth
- > of records on those reporters *and* records for a half-dozen reporters
- > with no connection to the case.
-
- Is it possible, perhaps, that American Express did privacy a service here?
- Taking this action to the extreme limit, suppose they put the records
- on the World Wide Web? Wouldn't this eliminate the selling of credit
- records? (Once they are freely available their market-value would
- take a drastic decrease, a and it would be very hard to make money from
- them.) Perhaps it would also allow people to clearly see exactly how much
- is known and therefore how much is not private.
-
- Similarly, with the wiretap bill, suppose instead that anyone could tap
- anyone else's phone line (say by dialing #, and then that person's phone
- number). Wouldn't this actually *help* privacy by causing people to
- obtain telephones with built-in encryption rather than asking Big Brother
- to protect their privacy with privacy-laws?
-
- Perhaps a definition of what we mean by the word ``privacy'' would be
- useful, since so many people seem to be using this word in so many
- different ways.
-
- [ Uh, much as I'm tempted to comment here, I'll bite my
- tongue and leave it to the readership to respond to the
- "privacy" concepts suggested above... -- MODERATOR ]
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 12 Mar 95 18:16:11 -0500
- From: eichin@mit.edu
- Subject: re: How can files be 100% wiped? [linux encrypted swap]
-
- >> There's still the problem of virtual memory causing plaintext to
- >> be written to the paging disk. However since the paging space is
-
- Someone in Sweden just announced patches to Linux 1.2.0 for encrypting
- the swap area; he claims an overhead of about 20ms/4K for the more
- secure version, 2ms/4K for a weaker one. I haven't started using it
- myself, yet, but I can certainly think of applications for it. (It is
- still in alpha test, but it is an example of what can be done...)
-
- >> A possible solution here might be somehow to lock the process into
- >> memory so that it is never paged out, or even once copied to disk.
-
- Some operating systems support a "plock" system call to lock a page in
- memory. If the system is paging in the first place, though, excessive
- use of it could be detrimental to overall performance.
-
- _Mark_ <eichin@cygnus.com>
- Cygnus Support, East Coast
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 17:32:02 EST
- From: "Tom Zmudzinski" <zmudzint@CC.IMS.DISA.MIL>
- Subject: How much is "enough"?
-
- In-Re: How can files be 100% wiped?
- On Tue, 14 Feb 1995, G Martin <gmartin@freenet.columbus.oh.us>
- posted to PRIVACY Forum Digest V04 #05
-
- > I am very confused about something and I'm hoping that
- > someone on this list can help me get to the truth. I'm going to
- > be teaching a class on Internet to a group of parents in a few
- > months. These parents have indicated to me that security/privacy
- > issues are a big deal to them (and truthfully they're a big deal
- > to me too). One area where I keep getting mixed signals on is
- > how to *REALLY* remove old data from hard drives, floppies and
- > backup tapes.
-
- As others have said, if you want 100% assurance that the data is
- gone, burn the media (and if it's mylar, watch out for cyanide!)
- However, if you are willing to live with some Risk (do you have a
- choice? You're living on a planet that attracts rocks!) you can
- try the following:
-
- 1. Get yourself the biggest "refrigerator magnet" (the rubbery kind)
- you can. They have incredible coercivity! (It's not the
- strength of the magnetic field but the _rate_of_change_ of the
- field that wipes data, and those oh so smooth "rubber" magnets
- are "rougher" than the mountains of the Moon in terms of their
- magnetic domains.)
- 2. (Optionally) deformat the disk using a "diskwipe" utility.
- 3. Demount the media and wipe your rubber magnet over the surface
- in an overlapping and crossing pattern.
- 4. Remount the media and try to read it (it had better fail --
- or else you're back in the toxic waste disposal business).
- 5. Format it.
- 6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 until feelings of paranoia go away.
-
- Is it bulletproof? No, but someone has to *really* want that data!
-
- In-Re: Destruction of data
- On Sun, 26 Feb 1995, cpreston@alaska.net (Charles M. Preston)
- posted to PRIVACY Forum Digest V04 #06
-
- >> A report from the Institute for Defense Analyses from several years
- >> ago stated that with enough processing power and time, data could be
- >> recovered almost regardless of the method used to erase it. The same
-
- Unfortunately, "with enough processing power and time" one might do
- nearly anything. "Enough" is a pseudo-superlative. The reality is
- that if the media is overwritten "enough" (there's that word again!),
- the data is lost in Chaos. That's why *NO* amount of "processing
- power and time" is enough to extract, say, the first word ever
- spoken from the random noise around us. Eventually (another
- pseudo-superlative), the signal will drop below the noise level.
-
- >> report gave a rule of thumb about the necessary strength of magnetic
- >> fields used to erase data. If this holds true for newer media like
- >> high-density diskettes and DAT drives, it may be impossible to
- >> adequately erase this media, including hard drives, with current
- >> degaussers.
-
- I'll agree that today's degaussers are suspect, especially if you're
- talking about single pass usage. But it's not exactly news that
- we've been in a technology race for as long as there's been a Human
- Race. This is just one more battle to be fought and lost.
-
- And here's something chilling for your Thought For The Day file:
-
- There is a small, but unacceptable, probability that Comet
- Swift-Tuttle will hit the Earth on 14 August 2126 (and a MUCH
- better chance come 3044 AD). Swift-Tuttle is approximately
- five miles in diameter, somewhat LARGER than Comet Alverez,
- the flying iceberg currently thought to have finished the
- dinosaurs. Now, are you certain you don't want to invest some
- of your children's tax dollars in space defense technology?
-
- [ I've certainly got those dates circled in red
- in my day planner... -- MODERATOR ]
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 22:05:12 -0800
- From: Phil Agre <pagre@weber.ucsd.edu>
- Subject: privacy issues in intelligent transportation systems
-
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Intelligent Transportation Systems in the United States
- Serious Privacy Issues -- Opportunity for Public Comment
- March 1995
- Please pass this file to anybody who might be interested.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is a very large program
- organized by industry and government to apply computer and communications
- technologies to transportation. If ITS lives up to its proponents'
- hopes then it will eventually affect virtually everybody. ITS systems
- are already implemented in many American states and other countries,
- particularly for automated toll collection, and numerous others can
- be expected soon. Architectures, standards, and regulatory frameworks
- for US national ITS systems are being formulated through a long, complex
- private-public partnership process that is already well under way.
- Although ITS promises to bring many benefits, if implemented incorrectly
- it can also pose a grave threat to personal privacy by making extensive
- information on individuals' travels available to governments, marketing
- organizations, and others.
-
- The second half of this file contains the most recent draft of the
- "privacy principles" for ITS, now being circulated for comments by the
- industry group ITS America. If you do have any comments then I encourage
- you to submit them to ITS America; 400 Virginia Avenue SW, Suite 800;
- Washington DC 20024-2730.
-
- I also strongly encourage you to obtain a copy of the November 1994 report
- on the DOT/ITS America national architecture plan from Mr. George Beronio;
- Federal Highway Administration; HTV-10 Room 3400; US Department of
- Transportation; 400 7th St SW; Washington DC 20590. For more information,
- see http://weber.ucsd.edu/~pagre/its-issues.html
-
- I am circulating the draft ITS privacy principles on my own initiative
- and not as a representative of ITS America, the University of California,
- or any other organization. The comments that follow reflect my own views.
-
- Here are some issues to consider:
-
- * What will prevent states from giving local police broad powers to
- use ITS information for law enforcement purposes? Do the democratic
- processes in state legislatures provide enough protection, or should
- the architecture for ITS systems resist abuse through anonymity and
- other measures? What does "ambushed" mean, and what if anything does
- "reasonable expectation" mean in practice?
-
- * Is an opt-out system sufficient to prevent abuse of ITS information by
- marketers? Do opt-out systems work well enough in other areas, such as
- secondary uses of personal mailing addresses and associated demographic
- information? What specific guidelines might be required to ensure
- that the opt-out is "user friendly" enough? Would an opt-in system
- be preferable? Such a system would set the default differently, so
- that your personal ITS information would not be available to marketing
- organizations without your express consent.
-
- * Should ITS systems collect individually identifiable information at
- all? That is, should the architecture be designed so that databases
- end up containing personal travel information that is indexed in some
- form that can be merged with personal information from other sources?
- Or should the system be entirely anonymous?
-
- * To what lengths should ITS implementers be required to go in order to
- provide drivers with the option of using ITS anonymously? How easy
- should it be to pay with cash -- or with digital cash?
-
- * Should ITS privacy guidelines have the force of law? Which ones? What
- would these laws be like, what level of government would be responsible
- for them, and how would they be enforced? If the guidelines do not
- have the force of law, what guarantee is there that ITS implementers
- will follow them in a substantive way?
-
- * Who should be liable when ITS information is employed to violate an
- individual's privacy? ITS developers? States? Both? What statutory
- framework is required to ensure that violated individuals can pursue
- and receive adequate legal remedies?
-
- * How is the adequacy of ITS privacy safeguards to be determined? Who
- will make this determination? Will there be an ongoing evaluation?
- By whom?
-
- * Is it practical to specify privacy guidelines without detailed
- reference to the ITS system architecture? How could the guidelines
- specify relevant aspects of the architecture more precisely without
- sacrificing adaptability to a wide range of settings? Are restrictions
- on the architecture required to ensure privacy, or does it suffice to
- formulate guidelines like these independently of the development of the
- architecture?
-
- * Should ITS development be permitted to proceed before privacy
- requirements are adequately defined, widely discussed, and broadly
- approved? Have these requirements been adequately articulated thus
- far in the process?
-
- * Are the guidelines clear enough? Are any passages vague or ambiguous?
-
- * Does the Freedom of Information Act really require a balance between
- privacy and right to know? Or does privacy take priority?
-
- * Does the requirement for "visibility" (also known as "transparency")
- need to be defined more precisely? What guidelines might be needed
- to ensure that information about ITS data flows are available to the
- general public in a useful form?
-
- * Is it alright to permit non-ITS organizations to make unlimited use of
- ITS information that does not identify individuals? Can we envision
- any types of non-individualized information whose use the public has an
- interest in regulating?
-
- * In the paragraph on secondary uses, is the expression "information
- absent personal identifiers" restrictive enough? What about
- information without personal identifiers but with identifiers for
- particular automobiles? What about information with identifiers for
- particular "smart cards" or bank account numbers? Might there be other
- types of information that permit individual identities to be readily
- reconstructed through merger with other sources?
-
- * The word "appropriate" appears four times. Does this notion need to
- be spelled out more specifically? Can this be done without introducing
- excessive inflexibility? How?
-
- * Who should have an opportunity to comment on these guidelines? Should
- the comments be publicly available? How?
-
- * Is it reasonable that these guidelines are being developed by a private
- organization rather than by the government? What initiatives, if any,
- should the government be taking to ensure privacy protection in this
- area?
-
- Although many of my views can be inferred from the way I have framed
- my questions, you are obviously free to draw your own conclusions about
- these matters and any others I might not have mentioned. I encourage you
- to communicate your views and to help make the issues known to the broad
- public that they affect. Public awareness is now virtually nil, and this
- is clearly unacceptable for an issue with the potential for such profound
- and pervasive consequences.
-
- -- Phil Agre
- pagre@ucsd.edu
- http://communication.ucsd.edu/pagre/agre.html
-
- ----------------------------
-
- ITS America
-
- Draft Final
- Intelligent Transportation Systems
- Fair Information and Privacy Principles
-
- These fair information and privacy principles were prepared in
- recognition of the importance of protecting individual privacy in
- implementing Intelligent Transportation Systems. They have been adopted
- by ITS America in "draft final" form. The Privacy Task Group of the Legal
- Issues Committee will present these principles for review and comment
- to organizations and groups interested in privacy and ITS outside of ITS
- America during 1995. They will then be submitted for final adoption to
- the ITS America Legal Issues Committee, Coordinating Council, and Board of
- Directors.
-
- The principles represent values and are designed to be flexible and
- durable to accommodate a broad scope of technological, social, and
- cultural change. ITS America may, however, need to revisit them
- periodically to assure their applicability and effectiveness.
-
- These principles are advisory, intended to educate and guide
- transportation professionals, policy makers, and the public as they
- develop fair information and privacy guidelines for specific intelligent
- transportation projects. Initiators of ITS projects are urged to publish
- the fair information privacy principles that they intend to follow.
- Parties to ITS projects are urged to include enforcible [sic] provisions
- for safeguarding privacy in their contracts and agreements.
-
- * INDIVIDUAL CENTERED. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
- must recognize and respect the individual's interests in privacy and
- information use.
-
- ITS systems create value for both individuals and society as a whole.
- Central to the ITS vision is the creation of ITS systems that will fulfill
- our national goals. The primary focus of information use is to improve
- travelers' safety and security, reduce travel times, enhance individuals'
- ability to deal with highway disruptions and improve air quality.
- Traveler information is collected from many sources, some from the
- infrastructure and some from vehicles, while other information may come
- from the transactions -- like electronic toll collection -- that involve
- interaction between the infrastructure and vehicle. That information
- may have value in both ITS and non-ITS applications. The individual's
- expectation of privacy must be respected. This requires disclosure and
- the opportunity for individuals to express choice.
-
- * VISIBLE. Intelligent transportation information systems will be built
- in a manner "visible" to individuals.
-
- ITS may create data on individuals. Individuals should have a means of
- discovering how the data flows operate. "Visible" means to disclose to
- the public the type of data collected, how it is collected, what its uses
- are, and how it will be distributed. The concept of visibility is one of
- central concern to the public, and consequently this principle requires
- assigning responsibility for disclosure.
-
- * COMPLY. Intelligent Transportation Systems will comply with state and
- federal laws governing privacy and information use.
-
- * SECURE. Intelligent Transportation Systems will be secure.
-
- ITS data bases may contain information on where travelers go, the routes
- they use, and when they travel, and therefore must be secure. All ITS
- information systems will make use of data security technology and audit
- procedures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
-
- * LAW ENFORCEMENT. Intelligent Transportation Systems will have an
- appropriate role in enhancing travelers' safety and security interests,
- but absent consent, government authority, or appropriate legal process,
- information identifying individuals will not be disclosed to law
- enforcement.
-
- ITS has the potential to make it possible for traffic management
- agencies to know where individuals travel, what routes they take, and
- travel duration. Therefore, ITS can increase the efficiency of traffic
- law enforcement by providing aggregate information necessary to target
- resources. States may legislate conditions under which ITS information
- will be made available. Absent government authority, however, ITS
- systems should not be used as a surveillance means for enforcing traffic
- laws. Although individuals are concerned about public safety, persons
- who voluntarily participate in ITS programs or purchase ITS products have
- a reasonable expectation that they will not be "ambushed" by information
- they are providing.
-
- * RELEVANT. Intelligent Transportation Systems will only collect
- personal information that is relevant for ITS purposes.
-
- ITS, respectful of the individual's interest in privacy, will only
- collect information that contain [sic] individual identifiers which are
- [sic] needed for the ITS service functions. Furthermore, ITS information
- systems will include protocols that call for the purging of individual
- identifier information that is no longer needed to meet ITS needs.
-
- * SECONDARY USE. Intelligent Transportation Systems information coupled
- with appropriate individual privacy protection may be used for non-ITS
- applications.
-
- American consumers want information used to create economic choice
- and value, but also want their interest in privacy preserved. ITS
- information is predictive of the types of goods and services that
- interest consumers, for example the right location for stores, hospitals,
- and other facilities. However, that same information might also be used
- to disadvantage and harm a consumer. Therefore, the following practices
- should be followed.
-
- * ITS information absent personal identifiers may be used for ITS and
- other purposes.
-
- * Other unrelated uses of ITS information with personal identifiers may
- be permissible if individuals receive effective disclosure and have a user
- friendly means of opting out.
-
- * Data collectors will only provide personal information to private
- organizations that agree to abide by these privacy principles.
-
- * FOIA. Federal and State Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) obligations
- require disclosure of information from government maintained databases.
- Database arrangements should balance the individual's interest in privacy
- and the public's right to know.
-
- In determining whether to disclose ITS information, governments should,
- where possible, balance the individual's right to privacy against the
- preservation of the basic purpose of the Freedom of Information laws to
- open agency action to the light of public scrutiny. ITS travelers should
- be presumed to have reasonable expectations of privacy for personal
- identifying information. Pursuant to the individual's interest in
- privacy, the public/private frameworks of organizations collecting data
- should be structured to resolve problems of access created by FOIA.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 19 Mar 1995 09:45:32 +0800
- From: jwarren@well.sf.ca.us (Jim Warren)
- Subject: Is Caller ID to be mandantory nationally, April, 1995 ?
-
- Would you like to know who's electronically knocking on your bedroom door
- in the middle of the night?
-
- Would you like to remain entirely undisturbed by anyone who's unwilling to
- identify themselves to you when they try to contact you or electronically
- enter your home?
-
- Would you like for the computer system you call to be able to verify that
- the call is coming actually from your phone number - rather than from some
- vile computer cracker who's somehow obtained your user-id and password?
-
- Would you like computer systems to selectively allow access to "sensitive"
- or "adult(?)" material via a call coming from your phone, identified as a
- mature(?) adult, while blocking access requests via your young teen-ager's
- phone that might be identified as such?
-
- And would you like to selectively keep some people whom you decide to visit
- electronically, no matter the time nor location at which you decide to
- contact them, from knowing who you are - for personal privacy or for
- nefarious purposes (or both)?
-
- Okay. I just received a Spring, 1995, junkmail catalog from Hello Direct,
- a telephone add-ons company. For some reason that's probably fantesy, I
- had the impression they were somehow associated with Pacific Bell, though I
- found no mention of it in this edition of their catalog. (800-444-3556;
- now you know everything I know about 'em.)
-
- An ad for a Caller ID blocking device on page 45 stated:
-
- "Mark your calendar. In April, 1995, Caller ID will be a 'done deal,'
- nationwide. You may or may not have Caller ID service from the phone
- company today. But in April, every telephone company coast-to-coast will
- be required to offer it, by law.
-
- "Your number can be legally displayed, for anyone you call who has Caller
- ID service and a phone with Caller ID functionality. ... While you could
- get a call-blocking service from the phone company, you'd have to keep
- paying for it every month. For a tidy fifty bucks, this clever little
- device does the trick just as well - no monthly service needed."
-
- (Unsurprisingly, the catalog also offered ID receiving units, as well as
- this ID transmission blocker. :-)
-
- I don't know whether this is true, partly-true (e.g., for interstate calls)
- or only sometimes true depending on which state you're in, as is now the
- case.
-
- Can anyone cite a federal statute or regulation - probably from the FCC -
- mandating such national service? Would love to have the exact citation and
- text of any such mandate.
-
- --jim
- Jim Warren, GovAccess moderator; columnist, MicroTimes/Govt.Tech/BoardWatch
- jwarren@well.com (well.com = well.sf.ca.us; also at jwarren@autodesk.com)
- 345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/<# upon request>
-
- [ From the PRIVACY Forum Moderator:
-
- First off, "Hello Direct" is not associated with Pacific Bell, unless
- there's some secret connection I've never heard of!
-
- The $50 CNID blocking device mentioned is actually a device to
- automatically dial *67 at the beginning of every call, to activate
- the per-call CNID blocking feature that the FCC mandated be
- available *for free* to all subscribers [but see below]...
-
- The FCC did *not* mandate CNID be available everywhere. What the FCC
- actually mandated is that CNID data be passed between local telcos and
- IXCs ("long distance companies") on interstate calls starting that date.
- They also mandated that before that be done local telcos must provide free
- per-call blocking (i.e. *67) for their subscribers, regardless of whether
- or not CNID display services were being offered to subscribers in that
- area. They also mandated that the privacy indication triggered by the use
- of per-call CNID blocking must be honored by all receiving local telcos.
-
- Note that:
-
- 1) This says nothing about the actual providing of CNID to subscribers.
- If the local telco decides they don't want to provide the ability
- for their subscribers to receive CNID, that's OK.
-
- 2) It says nothing about intrastate calls, which may still be under
- tighter controls (potentially with per-line CNID blocking still
- available). There are some technical issues revolving around the
- question of providing per-line blocking for intrastate calls and
- only per-call blocking for interstate calls.
-
- 3) It says nothing about calls to 800 or 900 numbers, which use
- ANI for caller (line) identification and are not affected by
- CNID restrictions. The issue of 800 numbers in particular is a
- thorny one, since the party paying for the call does need some
- way to track abusive and other usage.
-
- 4) Many state PUCs (and other entities) have apparently filed suits against
- the FCC regarding their ruling, particularly where the ruling would
- preempt the states' own rules for providing of per-line CNID blocking (at
- least as far as interstate calls are concerned).
-
- 5) Many local telcos seem quite confused about what's going on, and it
- has long seemed unlikely that the April implementation date would be
- fully met, especially since neither many local telcos, nor most IXCs,
- have said anything to their subscribers about use of *67 in those areas
- where CNID services are not being offered.
-
- NEWS FLASH! See the next message in this digest for important news
- regarding this topic area!
-
- I should add that I also saw that same writeup in the "Hello Direct"
- catalog. By the way, one of the Caller ID boxes in their catalog,
- showing a name display, is displaying the name "Will Robinson".
- I guess someone really might be "Lost in Space".
-
- -- MODERATOR ]
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 17:25:18 -0800
- From: Phil Agre <pagre@weber.ucsd.edu>
- Subject: FCC delaying draconian CNID measures
-
- A friend on the net has pointed out to me that the March 20th 1995
- "daily digest" of the FCC (http://fcc.gov:70/0/Daily_Digest/dd032095.txt
- or gopher fcc.gov) includes the following text, which is listed as an
- addendum that was released March 17th but not included in that day's
- summary:
-
- CALLER ID. Effective March 17, stayed effectiveness of
- Sections 64.1601 and 64.1603 of the Commission's rules in
- the matter of Rules and Policies Regarding Calling
- Number Identification Service -- Caller ID. (CC Docket 91-
- 281 by Order [FCC 95-119] adopted March 17 by the
- Commission)
-
- Although the full text does not seem to be available yet, the point seems
- to be that the FCC is backing off its ill-considered attempt to override
- state privacy protections for consumers whose phone systems employ Caller
- Number Identification (CNID, "Caller ID"). Nothing is wrong with CNID
- as such, and many supporters of CNID also support the necessary privacy
- features. The imporant thing is to ensure that people can easily block
- and unblock the sending of CNID from their own phone lines ("per line"
- not just "per call"). Otherwise, CNID turns from a device that allows
- people to regulate their own privacy (by deciding which outgoing calls
- should identify them and which incoming calls to accept) to a device that
- generates marketing information. For a long time, many CNID proponents
- denied that marketing applications were a significant motivation for
- CNID. Now that numerous business CNID software applications are becoming
- available (contact Rochelle Communications at (512) 339-8188), one more
- commonly hears arguments (for example from Peter Huber in Forbes, 6/6/94)
- that opponents of poorly designed CNID are anti-technological paranoiacs.
- Most recently, reports have been pouring in (see the most recent EPIC
- Alert) of badly implemented CNID blocking in several states that has
- revealed thousands of phone numbers that should have been protected.
- Clearly it's time to call "time out" on CNID and determine whether privacy
- protection is being treated as a crucial functionality to CNID or as an
- obstacle to its most profitable implementation.
-
- Phil Agre, UCSD
-
- [ From the PRIVACY Forum Moderator:
-
- I've included below the sections referenced in the above text. Note
- that based on a reading of just this material, there's no way to
- determine if the stay is related to technical difficulties in
- implementing the order by the original date (e.g., SS7 problems) or
- relates to a broader reconsideration of the issues in light of various
- actions and events which have occurred since the order.
-
- One can only hope it is the latter.
-
- -- MODERATOR ]
-
- -----------------------------------
-
- 64.1601 Delivery Requirements and Privacy Restrictions
-
- (a) Delivery. Common carriers using Signalling System 7
- and offering or subscribing to any service based on
- Signalling System 7 functionality are required to transmit
- the calling party number associated with an interstate call
- to interconnecting carriers.
-
- (b) Privacy. Originating carriers using Signalling System
- 7 and offering or subscribing to any service based on
- Signalling System 7 functionality will only recognize *67
- dialed as the first three digits of a call (or 1167 for
- rotary or pulse-dialing phones) as a caller's request for
- privacy on an interstate call. No common carrier
- subscribing to or offering any service that delivers calling
- party number may override the privacy indicator associated
- with an interstate call. The terminating carrier must act
- in accordance with the privacy indicator unless the call is
- made to a called party that subscribes to an ANI or charge
- number based service and the call is paid for by the called
- party.
-
- (c) Charges. No common carrier subscribing to or offering
- any service that delivers calling party number may (i)
- impose on the calling party charges associated with per call
- blocking of the calling party's telephone number, or (ii)
- impose charges upon connecting carriers for the delivery of
- the calling party number parameter or its associated privacy
- indicator.
-
- (d) Exemptions. 64.1601 shall not apply to calling party
- number delivery services (i) used solely in connection with
- calls within the same limited system, including (but not
- limited to) a Centrex, virtual private network, or private
- branch exchange system; (ii) used on a public agency's
- emergency telephone line or in conjunction with 911
- emergency services, or on any entity's emergency assistance
- poison control telephone line; or (iii) provided in
- connection with legally authorized call tracing or trapping
- procedures specifically requested by a law enforcement
- agency.
-
- 64.1603 Customer notification.
-
- Any common carrier participating in the offering of services providing
- calling party number, ANI, or charge number on interstate calls must
- notify its subscribers, individually or in conjunction with other
- carriers, that their telephone numbers may be identified to a called
- party.
-
- Such notification must be made not later than April 12, 1995, and
- at such times thereafter as to ensure notice to subscribers. The
- notification shall inform subscribers how to maintain privacy by
- dialing *67 (or 1167 for rotary or pulse-dialing phones) on
- interstate calls. For ANI or charge number services for which
- such privacy is not provided, the notification shall inform
- subscribers of the restrictions on the reuse or sale of
- subscriber information.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of PRIVACY Forum Digest 04.07
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