http://www.FairfaxCountyPrivacyCouncil.org

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FCPC ALERT #2008-1: Will Virginia secure your SSN in governmental records?

Originally Published on Jan. 28, 2008

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This message is intended for members of the Fairfax County Privacy Council, and anyone else who might be interested in advancing privacy in Virginia. Maximum dissemination of this message is encouraged!

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. Virginia bill to stop “data-breach by FOIA” needs your help to pass!

2. Intrusive nanny-state “primary offense” bills – slowed but not stopped, yet

3. FCPC member’s LTE against REAL ID scheme published in Washington Times

4. Action Item: Tell your federal Congressmen/women to repeal REAL ID Act

5. Next FCPC Meeting: Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1PM, Kingstowne Library (tentative)

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1. Virginia bill to stop “data-breach thru state FOIA” needs your help to pass!

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Virginia’s short annual meeting of the General Assembly has been chuggin’ along now for a couple weeks, and much ado has been made of the Governor Kaine backed bills to require private industry to notify consumers of breaches of their personal data, including social security numbers (“SSNs”).

Yet all this hubbub over private company policies is basically like the pot calling the kettle black because Virginia REQUIRES state and local agencies to publish your SSN held in government records to anyone who asks for it. The culprit is Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) which fails to have any commonsense privacy protections, even for SSNs!

Some Virginia FOIA extremists have taken the position that once your SSN is entered into governmental records, it must be re-published for all to see on demand even if you were tricked illegally into disclosing your SSN. This position is at odds with common sense – that’s why the federal FOIA and many state FOIAs exempt SSNs from publication. Further, a number of federal and state appeals courts have ruled that publication of SSNs from government records is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy under the federal constitution.

Delegate Mark Sickles’ (D - Fairfax County) HB 1102 to create an SSN exemption in FOIA will be heard by the House FOIA Subcommittee on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 12:30 PM in House Room C – anyone can show up and speak to the subcommittee on this bill.

In the meantime, ACTION ITEM - make sure you email the subcommittee on this bill right now.

Draft message follows:

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TO: delSIaquinto@house.state.va.us, delTGilbert@House.state.va.us, delCJones@house.state.va.us, delGOder@house.state.va.us, delBPhillips@house.state.va.us, delRTyler@house.state.va.us

CC: delmsickles@house.state.va.us

SUBJECT: Please support HB 1102, protecting privacy of SSNs held in state/local records!

Dear House FOIA Subcommittee:

Please support Delegate Sickles' HB 1102 to allow state and local agencies to secure social security numbers entrusted to them by the citizens of the Commonwealth.

Right now the Virginia Freedom of Information Act lacks this vital privacy protection, even though the FOIAs of the federal and many states have long protected social security number privacy.

It is utterly shocking that Virginia law requires social security numbers to be published on demand by anyone who wants to see them, even convicted felons and sex offenders.

Data breach by FOIA must be stopped.

Please let me know what you are going to do to protect common sense privacy rights & make sure that HB 1102 is endorsed by your subcommittee.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME

YOUR ADDRESS

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2. Intrusive nanny-state bills – slowed but not stopped, yet

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Like previous years, a number of bills have been introduced to increase police power to stop your vehicle upon mere “reasonable suspicion” that you, someone in your vehicle, or something, is unlawful. This is known as making an offense “primary.”

The US Supreme Court has held that if state statutes allow for a primary stop of persons not wearing seatbelts or any other trivial offense completely unknown at common law, then the police may arrest, handcuff, and search a mother in front of her children, and take their mother away for booking. See Atwater v. Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318 (2001).

Bills being considered by the Virgiia General Assembly right now:

Seat belt crime: FCPC has long agreed with the recent Winchester Star Editorial warning of “let’s resist the nanny-state impulse.” See Seat belts, again; Buckle up, or face charges?, Winchester Star, Editorial, Jan, 22, 2008, available at http://tinyurl.com/34gmzk. Unfortunately Senator Patricia Ticer’s (D – Alexandria) SB 649 to make Virginia an “Atwater state” narrowly passed the Senate – FCPC will be watching this bill closely to make sure it is killed by the House.

Open container crime: Delegate Harry Purkey’s (R – Virginia Beach) HB 27 (to make it a primary offense for passengers to have even an empty container of alcohol anywhere in the passenger compartment) seems unlikely to pass and Purkey asked that the bill be passed by last week. Purkey’s bill is so extreme it has no exception for transporting a closed bottle of wine from a restaurant in mini-vans, SUVs, or pickup trucks (which have no trunk). The bill would incentivize these drivers to drink ALL their wine before driving home, and would give police “reasonable suspicion based” power to stop any vehicle if an occupant appears to have any container which might contain alcohol (envision a soda can viewed thru tinted glass at highway speed).

Teen driver crimes: Good news, the Senate transportation committee had no appetite for Senator George Barker’s (D - Fairfax County) SB 723 to give police power to pull over any driver who appears to be young and either (1) using a cell phone, (2) having more than 2 other young looking people in the vehicle, or (3) driving late at night. Both Fairfax County’s Senator Chap Petersen and Ken Cuccinelli objected to the proposal stating that “There’s a reason these offenses are not primary offenses.”

Other objections included inability for police to legally determine under “reasonable basis” **prior** to the stop (1) whether a work or school exception applied to the late night young driver or (2) whether a family member exception applied to the young driver with young passengers.

The FCPC testimonial objection to the bill was simply that the bill would provide the police the “reasonable suspicion power” to pull over anyone on suspicion of being young and conduct pat down searches of drivers, passengers, and passenger compartments.

But Senator Petersen just cut to the chase by urging his colleagues to reject the bill or “it will mean open season on teenagers!”

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3. FCPC member’s LTE against REAL ID scheme published in Washington Times

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Fear DHS, not al Qaeda (Letter)

The Washington Times

Jan. 14, 2008

http://tinyurl.com/2dupb2

Everyone is missing the point about the Real ID Act, under which a strong central government is forcing states to meet its standards for driver's licenses ("Chertoff pushes states for air IDs," Page 1, Saturday).

The federal government says it wants nationwide driver's license standards to defeat fraud, illegal aliens and terrorism. Some state leaders argue against nationwide standards because compliance will be costly. The issue not covered in news reporting is whether Americans ought to be required to carry a photo ID at all.

Allowing the federal government to decide this makes a mockery of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, which reserves most powers to the states or to the people.

I want the standard for my driver's license to be decided in my state capital, not in Washington. I want to use the license to drive a vehicle only. In a free country, I would not be required to identify myself to a federal government official in order to enter a government building or board an airliner.

The federal government says the September 11 hijackers used false ID documents to board airliners. That isn't true. Some of the hijackers obtained driver's licenses by misrepresenting their residency. But none misrepresented his identity. Every one of the hijackers had a driver's licenses issued in his real name.

In six years of disarming innocent travelers at airports, the federal government has not rooted out a single terrorist and probably has not deterred any. It has, however, taken from me the right to travel freely in my own country. It has made me accountable to my government. It should work the other way around.

I'm not afraid of terrorists. I'm afraid of a homeland security apparatus in Washington that was once meant to be temporary, is now bloated and growing and is out of control. We would be safer if no one had a photo ID. We would be more secure if the government would focus on destroying al Qaeda instead of conducting futile screenings at airports. We will be free only when we restore the 10th Amendment and return to the states the decision as to what a driver's license should look like.

ROBERT F. DORR

Oakton

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4. Action Item: Tell your federal Congressmen/women to repeal REAL ID Act

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Action Item: http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=30

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5. Next FCPC Meeting: Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1PM, Kingstowne Library (tentative)

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Location: 6500 Landsdowne Centre, Alexandria, VA 22315

General Assembly bill cross-over will be a only a few days away by Feb. 9 – the meeting will focus on what needs to be done this year, and what needs to be done better in the coming months. RSVP toFCPCChairman@cox.net just in case the meeting time/location is changed.

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Questions, or to be added/deleted from future Alerts? Contact Mike Stollenwerk atFCPCChairman@cox.net.