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FCPC ALERT #2006-1
www.FairfaxCountyPrivacyCouncil.org
Originally Published on 21 January 2006
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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. Will the VA General Assembly act on online
records problem?
2. Motor-cell phone ban bill quashed; mini-me version lives on
3. Take Action on Presidential Spying Gone
Wild!
4. Cookies are bad for you
5. FCPC quarterly public meeting on
6. Privacy letters
7. Privacy Quote: “I’m a soldier, not…”
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1. Will the VA General Assembly act on online records problem?
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3 years after codifying a pay per view Internet publication scheme in which VA
Clerks of Court publish “land records” containing SSNs, dates of birth, and
other sensitive personal information, a batch of bills have been introduced to
require or permit upon citizen request that certain sensitive fields of data be
redacted. The sponsors of the various bills include Delegate Sam Nixon
(D-Chesterfield), Delegate Matt Lohr (
For more information and history about the VA online records problem, see http://www.opcva.com/watchdog. A
similar website has sprung up in
In 1997,
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2. Motor-cell phone ban bill quashed; mini-me version lives on
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On 19 January 2005, the Senate Transportation Committee voted down SB16, an
effort by Senator Henry Marsh (D-Richmond) to ban hand held cell phone use
while operating an automobile. Senator Marsh sought to make this a
“primary offense,” thus allowing the police to stop drivers suspected of using
a cell phone. By way of contrast, driving without a seatbelt or while
sipping a Budweiser are “secondary” offenses which do not permit the police to
conduct a traffic stop to enforce the law.
A “mini-me” version of the cell phone ban, SB137, authored by Senator Jay
O’Brien (R-Clifton) and applicable only to “provisional drivers” under 18 years
of age, DID pass the committee, but faces an uncertain legislative future
because this bill also makes cell phone use a “primary offense” likely to cause
vast numbers of adult motorists to be stopped by police for “suspicion of being
young.” See "Bill would limit teen drivers," The Potomac
News, by Kafia Hosh,
Strangely, despite approving O’Brien’s primary offense cell phone ban for
provisional drivers, the Transportation Committee then voted down his other
bill, SB533, to both ban cell phone use AND make ALL current provisional
license violations (i.e., driving after curfew or with too many young
passengers) primary offenses. This bill was apparently introduced on the
request of the Fairfax County School Board.
Senator Jeannemarie Devolites
Davis (R-Vienna) voted with the majority to kill SB533 arguing that her
daughter will soon turn 18 yet will “look the same” and might be pulled over by
police and detained unnecessarily.
Interestingly, when polled by Delegate Bill Janis (R-Henrico), 120
fifth-graders at the
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Common%2FMGArticle%2FPrintVersion&c=MGArticle&cid=1128769079965&image=timesdispatch80x60.gif&oasDN=timesdispatch.com&oasPN=%21news.
FCPC will actively oppose Senator O’Brien’s mini-me cell-phone ban bill as long
as it remains a “primary offense.”
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3. Take Action on Presidential Spying Gone
Wild!
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Facts are not in dispute. President Bush admits to ordering
electronic spying on Americas without court order in violation of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) even though the Act provides him
emergency powers to spy without court orders as long as he reports this back to
the FISA court in a timely manner. Mr. Bush claims that his inherent
powers under the US Constitution as President amid a Congressionally
authorized war in
Even assuming the President’s legal argument is correct:
a. The spying now appears to be a disaster
threatening to derail/overturn criminal investigations/convictions of
terrorists and other criminals because the spying may have tainted valid FISA
court warrants in these cases. See “Surveillance Court Is Seeking Answers
- Judges Were Unaware of Eavesdropping,” The Washington Post by Carol D. Leonnig,
b. Since the President claims the inherent power
to spy on Americans at will, then it appears that he no longer needs the
USAPATRIOT Act’s surveillance powers.
TAKE ACTION
AT https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr005=atrzxekjn2.app2a&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=200
to tell Congress “No PATRIOT Without Wiretapping Investigations.
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4. Cookies are bad for you
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The federal Department of Justice is fighting the Google
Corporation to obtain records of Americans web surfing habits correlated by
among other things, web “cookies” placed on your computer as you surf web
sites. Read about how to “lose your cookies” at “How to Foil Search
Engine Snoops,” Wired.com, by Brian Singel, at http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70051-0.html?tw=rss.technology
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5. FCPC quarterly public meeting on
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Become a “physical member” of FCPC by attending a quarterly FCPC public
meeting. The next one is tomorrow,
Main agenda item is discussion of categories of the 2006 General Assembly bills
to oppose or support – see the General Assembly bill tracker at http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?061+men+BIL,
and the initial DRAFT FCPC bill position tracker at http://hkshooter.net/FCPC/GA2006.html.
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6. Privacy letters
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If you spot a privacy related LTE in the VA press, let FCPC know about it –
better yet, write some LTEs on privacy yourself!
a. “For Biometric Payment, a Scary Scenario,
LTE, The
Washington Post, 14 June2005, p. A20
The June 9 Business article “Cash, Charge or Fingerprint? Retailers Experiment
with Biometric Payment to Speed up Service and Prevent Fraud, a Move that
Worries some Privacy Advocates,” did not address one concern about
biometric-based transactions: that your fingers could become the target of
thieves.
In
Given the choice, most theft victims would presumably rather be deprived of
their wallet or purse – or even their identity – than lose a finger.
James Stephens
Woodbridge, VA
b. “For Cameras, Grace Period Would Be the Ticket,” LTE, The
Fairfax Extra, The Washington Post, p.5
I second the motion Susan Goewey put forth in her
letter in the April 14 Fairfax Extra, “Red Light Cameras Were Missed
Opportunity.”
I also received a $50 ticket from the Towne of Vienna, for driving across the
stop line at Route 123 and
I agree with Ms. Goewey that there are times when
continuing through a changing light is safer that slamming on the brakes.
Unfortunately, that bit of common sense has not tempered enforcement of the red
light camera program in our jurisdiction.
Do officials really want to encourage drivers to simply stop abruptly simply to
avoid a ticket, regardless of the consequences? A grace period would
eliminate this non-win situation for drivers and perhaps lessen the ire so many
feel about a system that seems as interested in revenue as reform.
David DiFiorre
Vienna
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7. Privacy Quote:
“I’m a soldier, not…”
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“I’m a soldier, not a spy…Yes, I took an oath to defend the United States
against all enemies "foreign and domestic," but the implication of
domestic intelligence-gathering by the [Pentagon's three-year-old
Counterintelligence Field Activity], even by a limited number of soldiers,
should be sufficiently disturbing for American citizens in and out of uniform
that we think long and hard about crossing the line, even a little.” –
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Questions, or to be added/deleted from future Alerts? Contact Mike
Stollenwerk atFCPCChairman@cox.net.
