http://www.FairfaxCountyPrivacyCouncil.org
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FCPC ALERT #2004-6…**URGENT FEDERAL & VA LEGISLATION ALERT**
Originally Published on
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Greetings! This message is intended for members of the
Fairfax County Privacy Council, and anyone else who might be interested in
advancing privacy in
Privacy Notice: All communication from the Fairfax Privacy Council is sent
using blind carbon copy ("BCC") format for your security and privacy.
ALERT ITEM
SUMMARY:
1. URGENT: National ID Card bill
almost stalled in conference…Let’s Roll!
2. URGENT: Federal "SECURE FLIGHT" program to grab air
passenger data
3. URGENT:
4. DOD ID SSN privacy success story
5. Privacy Quote: "
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1. URGENT: National ID Card bill almost stalled in conference…Let’s Roll!
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##URGENT: The Congressional conference
committee is meeting this week so take action at http://www.downsizedc.org/index.shtml
ASAP and pass this action item to your friends and family across the US.##
FCPC Charter Member Mark Anderson reports that after firing off a letter
against HR 10 after receiving FCPC Alert #2004-5’s action link re: HR 10, he
soon received a response from Representative Tom Davis (R-Fairfax County) advising that “As chairman of the
House Government Reform Committee, I was actively involved in drafting portions
of H.R. 10. Among these provisions was the establishment of new federal
standards for identification cards and birth certificates. We need to
have confidence that when someone shows a state driver’s license to board a
plane…”
Davis seems to miss the fact that Congress
has never passed any law, nor has the President published any regulation,
requiring anyone to have any ID at all to board an airline on a domestic
flight. It is exactly this sort of “mission creep” that turns driver’s
licenses into domestic passports and allows arm-chair security experts to cook
up more fast food security schemes.
BUT, we are winning - HR 10 and a related Senate bill now appear stalled in
conference committee thanks to opposition from the American Civil Liberty Union
(“ACLU”), Gun owners of
But more pressure is needed - please consider sending one more shotgun blast
against the National ID Card Database proposals still breathing in our nation's
capitol!
Take Action: http://www.downsizedc.org/index.shtml
is ready to fire with your help!
And if anyone also has time to call the conferees [ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN If
California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia,
Wisconsin], please do call them...ALL! Talking points: "I think the
USAPATRIOT ACT already went too far. I want the national ID database provisions
and the employment screening powers for the Attorney General, stripped out of
HR 10 and the other related bills now pending in conference committee."
HERE'S THE LIST
Senate Conferees:
Susan Collins, R-Maine (202) 224-2523 (Sponsor)
George Voinovich, R-OH (202) 224-3353 (Co-sponsor)
Norm Coleman, R-MN (202) 224-5641 (Co-sponsor)
John Sununu, R-NH (202) 224-2841
Pat Roberts, R-KS (202) 224-4774
Mike DeWine, R-OH (202) 224-2315
Trent Lott, R-MS (202) 224-6253
Joe Lieberman, D-CT (202) 224-4041 (Co-sponsor)
Carl Levin, D-MI (202) 224-6221
Richard Durbin, D-IL (202) 224-2152 (Co-sponsor)
Jay Rockefeller, D-WV (202) 224-6472 (Co-sponsor)
Bob Graham, D-FL (202) 224-3041
Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ (202) 224-3224
House Conferees:
Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich. (202) 225-4401 (Co-sponsor)
Henry Hyde, R-Ill. (202) 225-4561 (Co-sponsor)
David Dreier, R-Calif. (202) 225-2305 (Co-sponsor)
Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. (202) 225-5672 (Co-sponsor)
James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.(202) 225-5101
(Co-sponsor)
Jane Harman, D-Calif. (202) 225 8220
Ike Skelton, D-Mo. (202) 225-2876
Robert Menendez, D-N.J. (202) 225-7919
Here is one man's "script" for these sorts of calls:
"Hi, I'm a registered voter from Ohio, and I was hoping you could take a
_brief_ message for Senator Voinovich." {Pause}
"In response to the 9-11 Commission Recommendations, the House just passed
HR 10. The Senate has passed their version of this bill, S.2845. I understand
that the Senator is on the Conference Committee for that bill, and I'm calling
to urge him to stand firm against including provisions from the House bill. I'm
especially concerned about the national ID database provisions and the
employment screening powers for the Attorney General."
"My name is Jim Babka - spelled B-A-B-K-A. I
live in {insert city}, OH. Can I leave my phone number please?" {Pause}
I didn't even have to give them my phone number. They had caller ID. So I
thanked the lady who answered and said, "Goodbye." I was on the phone
less than a minute. It was that easy.
You can choose your own words. In fact, it is better if you do. But keep it
very short - two to four sentences. And be very pleasant.
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2.
URGENT: Federal
"SECURE FLIGHT" program to grab air passenger data
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##URGENT: Comments to the TSA and Congress
are due by next week
The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has issued an order to
By the way, did you know that “Ben H. Bell III, the former intelligence
official and main visionary behind the scrapped CAPPS air passenger screening
system, has gone offshore to form the Bahamas based ‘Global Information Group’
where, outside the reach of US regulators, he intends to use the concept and
technology behind CAPPS to conduct employee and other research for corporations
[i.e., spy on Americans for profit from his off shore tax haven and legal
sanctuary],” (see “‘King’ Of CAPPS II Heads For The Bahamas, Privacy
Times, 20 October 2004, p. 11, and “Bahamas Firm Screens Personal
Data To Assess Risk: Operation Avoids U.S. Privacy Rules,” The
Washington Post, by Robert O'Harrow Jr., 16
October 2004, p. A01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36853-2004Oct15.html).
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3.
URGENT:
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##URGENT: These Orwellian concepts are
ready to be turned into bills in the General Assembly this year. Please
take action by emailing Del. Kathy J.
Byron (R-Lynchburg), (see below) and pass this action item to your friends
and family across Virginia.##
A special commission of the Virginia General Assembly is meeting to study
mandating drastic changes to Virginia driver’s licenses. Imagine having
to carry with you a radio Frequency ID chip everywhere you go, and having to
submit to fingerprinting, retinal scans, or blood draws just to get a driver’s
license? The Charlottesville Daily Progress points out the
obvious tension that “improved public security may come at the price of reduced
personal security and individual liberty” (see “Liberty or security?,” The Daily
Progress, October 10, 2004, http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031778464367&path=!news!opinion.
“Richard Carter, technology director for the national association that
represents motor vehicle department administrators and traffic police, said
that group was not ready to recommend smart identification cards. A
traditional license costs about $1.50 to make, Carter said, but smart ones can
cost as much as $10. In addition, equipment that costs $20 to $150 would have
to be installed in every police car, DMV office and government building to scan
and read the cards, he said” see “Va. Panel Contemplates 'Smart' Driver's
Licenses,” The Washington Post, by Michael D. Shear, 7 October 2004, p.
B03, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13060-2004Oct6.html?sub=AR.
Chris Calabrese, counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology
and Liberty Program testified that the scheme treads on very dangerous ground,
and could expose the public to more harm than good, allowing others “…to
secretly and electronically pickpocket your information right through a wallet,
pocket, backpack or purse” (see testimony at http://www.politechbot.com/2004/10/18/aclu-testimony-before).
Still, Delegate Byron, chairman of
the joint subcommittee reviewing "smart" driver's licenses, said she
believes
FCPC is not so sure this is so smart. What problem needs to be
fixed? VA already mandates that everyone be digitally photographed (a
biometric) even though 14 states and many countries belonging to the UN
Convention on driving do not require drivers to submit to photographic intrusion
to drive in Virginia.
Let’s take action on this before it gets out of hand by emailing Delegate Byron
at Del_Byron@house.state.va.us
to express some thoughts. Sample message follows:
Dear Delegate Byron:
Just exactly what problem are you trying to fix by enacting a “Smart Card”
program for
I do NOT want any bill to be introduced in the General Assembly to move your
Smart Card scheme forward. How about a little privacy for a change?
Please forward this email to all the members of your commission and let me know
how you are going to proceed.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
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4. DOD ID
SSN privacy success story
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After a few weeks in a standoff, FCPC Charter Member Andrea Gatica
reports that she prevailed over the Department of Defense ("DOD")
bureaucrats here in the Washington, DC area who refused to renew her DOD ID
Card unless she disclosed her Social Security Number. Andrea has never
disclosed her SSN, if any, to the DOD in the past, despite being a military
family member for years. It seems that the recent “papers in order”
mentality now sweeping
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5.
Privacy quote: "Sept. 11,
2001, already a day of immeasurable tragedy, cannot be the day liberty perished
in this country."
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--Judge Gerald Tjoflat,
writing for a unanimous 11th federal Circuit Court of Appeals panel striking
down the use of metal detectors to "screen" demonstrators in public
areas on 15 October 2004 in Bourgeouis
v. Peters, Dozier, and the City of Columbus, GA (see opinion at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/11th/0216886p.pdf;
see also “Screening of Protesters Unconstitutional, Court Rules,” The
Associated Press, by C.G. Wallace, 17 October 2004, p. A13, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38747-2004Oct16.html;
and “Court rejects searches at SOA Watch,” The Ledger-Inquirer, by Pat
Gillespie, 17 October 2004, http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/9939401.htm.
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Questions, or to be added/deleted from future Alerts? Contact Mike
Stollenwerk atFCPCChairman@cox.net.