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www.FairfaxCountyPrivacyCouncil.org

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FCPC ALERT #2007-3: BAD BAD PRIVACY NEWS FROM RICHMOND

Originally Published on 28 January 2007
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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. Introductory Comment – BAD BAD PRIVACY NEWS FROM RICHMOND

2. House General Laws Committee votes to continue allowing access to your SSNs by anyone, including criminals and companies making money off the sale of your private information!

3. FCPC begins collection of state legislators’ public records laden with SSNs for publication on MySpace.Com to assist in alleged one year “study” of SSN privacy in Virginia

4. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Connolly wants SSN exemption in VA FOIA

5. Senator Cuccinelli’s SSN privacy bill to be heard Wednesday in the Senate!

6. 2007 FCPC bill tracker up and running!

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1. Introductory Comment – BAD BAD PRIVACY NEWS FROM RICHMOND

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Those finely dressed and well paid K Street lobbyists of the data broker industry are winning their fight to keep Virginia’s SSN loophole WIDE OPEN in the Freedom of Information Act so they can continue making gobs of money at your expense.

And that’s cold comfort to the relatives and friends of Amy Boyer, killed by a stalker who tracked her down in part by way of her Social Security Number (“SSN”) purchased from Docusearch, an Ashburn Virginia “Internet information broker [who] agreed to pay $85,000 to a Nashua woman who sued the Virginia company over her daughter's killing.” “Mother of slain woman settles lawsuit against info-broker,” by Holly Ramer, The Associated Press, at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2004-03-10-boyer-suit-settled_x.htm.

Security Consultant Rob Douglas writes, “[s]ince the day I stood at Amy’s grave I’ve asked myself many unanswerable questions. I’ve wondered what Amy was thinking about in the last moments prior to the first sign of danger . . .I’ve wondered about the confusion she must have felt as she looked out her window at the car that rushed up alongside hers, coming to a sliding stop drivers’ door to drivers’ door. Did Amy recognize the young man behind the wheel shouting her name? Did she recognize Liam as a former high school classmate? And yes, having seen the photos of Amy’s bullet-torn body, I’ve wondered about the moment when Amy’s confusion turned to terror as Liam repeatedly shot her — saving the last bullet to die alongside Amy.” “Why has Congress failed Amy?,” Commentary, MSNBC.com, by Rob Douglas, 16 October 2006 at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15237846.

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2. House General Laws Committee votes to continue allowing access to your SSNs by anyone, including criminals and companies making money off the sale of your private information! Ask your Delegate to move to pull HB 2821 back off the table!

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Delegate Mark Sickles (D - Fairfax County) is trying to close the dangerous SSN loophole in the VA Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) with his HB 2821, but last week Delegate Reid’s (R – Henrico) Committee on General Laws voted to TABLE the bill and send it to be “STUDIED” for a year. The federal FOIA, and most state FOIAs closed this loophole long ago!

SSN privacy needs studying??!! (Studying an issue is the legislature’s way of pretending to take action while actually killing the bill.)

Everybody knows, and the courts agree, than that forced dissemination of citizen SSNs by government thru public records “constitute[s] a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Oliva v. United States, 756 F.Supp. 105, 107 (E.D.N.Y. 1991).

Delegate Sickles stood his ground & fought for his bill at the hearing, urging the committee to pass it. Now it is TABLED to be STUDIED. That’s the “Virginia way” to kill popular bills – study them but not act on them . . . just the way the General Assembly did Delegate Plum’s (D-Fairfax County/Falls Church) HB 1510 last year –HB 1510 would have stopped private merchant demands for your SSN unless the merchant can point to a federal, state, or local law authorizing him to collect your SSN.

ACTION ITEM #1: If your Delegate is on the General Laws Committee (below), you need to call your Delegate to say you are “not happy with his vote to table HB 2821 and to do you a personal favor and make a motion to pull the bill off the table and have an up or down vote on HB 2821 to create an SSN exemption in the VA FOIA.”

Abbitt, Watkins M., Jr. (804) 698-1059

Albo, David B. (804) 698-1042

Armstrong, Ward L. (804) 698-1010

Barlow, William K. (804) 698-1064

Bulova, David L. (804) 698-1037

Cosgrove, John A. (804) 698-1078

Cox, M. Kirkland (804) 698-1066

Gear, Thomas D. (804) 698-1091

Hull, Robert D. (804) 698-1038

Jones, Chris, S. (804) 698-1076

Marshall, Daniel W., III (804) 698-1014

McQuigg, Michèle B. (804) 698-1051

Oder, G. Glenn (804) 698-1094

Phillips, Clarence E (“Bud”) (804) 698-1002

Rapp, Melanie L. (804) 698-1096

Saxman, Christopher B. (804) 698-1020

Suit, Terrie L. (804) 698-1081

Ward, Jeion A. (804) 698-1092

Wright, Thomas C., Jr. (804) 698-1061

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3. FCPC begins collection of state legislators’ public records laden with SSNs to publish on MySpace.com to assist in alleged “study” of SSN privacy in Virginia

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FCPC is hard at work with an intensive FOIA request campaign to locate and publish on MySpace.com as many Virginia legislators’ public records containing SSNs as we can to assist the General Assembly in “studying” the issue in the coming year. The focus is on state and local systems of records **not** governed by special statutes requiring their publication notwithstanding FOIA exemptions (e.g., land records at the courthouse).

FOIA requests have gone out for legislators’ records held by Fairfax County, Alexandria, Arlington County, Loudoun County, and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (“DGIF”) (for records relating to hunting, fishing, trapping, and boating).

DGIF’s Phil Smith called FCPC late Friday night to say he was working late on our request, and has found SSN encumbered boating records of many legislators, one as far back as 1985! Go Phil Go!!

The next batch of requests will go out to various state agencies holding occupational, professional, and other state license records, including attorneys, educators, etc.

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4. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Connolly wants SSN exemption in VA FOIA; joins FCPC, the Fairfax County Taxpayer Alliance, and the Virginia Citizens Defense League in urging common sense privacy law for Virginia

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Yesterday, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly spoke at a citizens meeting in Fairfax County with Senator Webb and others. Hearing two questions about SSN privacy during the Q/A session, Connolly strode over to FCPC members after the meeting and stated that Fairfax County is “doing everything we can” to limit collection and dissemination of SSNs, and that Fairfax County WANTS an SSN exemption in the Virginia FOIA.

Connolly is right – localities hands are tied by the FOIA right now. Here are just a couple of examples of records where localities have SSNs for the taking by any illegal alien, pedophile, or identity fraudster:

Alexandria – Bidders Mailing List applications

Arlington County – Sheriff’s department Citizen Police Academy applicants

Fairfax County – Residential Permit Parking District applicants

Loudoun County – Sheriff’s Department bicycle registration records

NOTE: Arthur Purves, President of the Fairfax County Taxpayer Alliance (FCTA.org) and Philip van Cleave of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL.org) have also gone on record as supporting an SSN exemption in FOIA.

Citizens, Taxpayers, & Gun Owners agree – forced dissemination of citizen SSNs by government thru public records is “an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

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5. Senator Cuccinelli’s SSN privacy bill to be heard Wednesday in the Senate!

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Senator Cuccinelli’s SB 819 to create an SSN exemption in FOIA will be heard by the Senate General Laws Committee this Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. Senate Room B. If you can take off work to attend &/or speak, please do!

ACTION ITEM #2: Email the General Laws Committee to pass Senator Cuccinelli’s SB 819!

SUBJECT: Close the SSN loophole now – SB 819 is needed NOW!

Dear Senator:

Please SUPPORT HB 2821, Senator Cuccinelli’s bill to create a FULL strength Social Security Number exemption in the VA Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), along with some other common sense exemptions, like bank account numbers (duh!).

SB 819 is long overdue. Studying this bill is NOT an option.

I want my SSN privacy NOW!

Please let me know what you are going to do.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS

ACTION ITEM #3: If your Senator is on the General Laws and Technology Committee (below), you need to call your Senator and urge him to “vote to pass Senator Cuccinnelli’s SB 819 to create an SSN exemption in FOIA and protect my privacy.”

Bell, J. Brandon, II (804) 698-7522

Colgan, Charles J. (804) 698-7529

Devolites Davis, Jeannemarie (804) 698-7534

Hawkins, Charles R. (804) 698-7519

Herring, Mark R. (804) 698-7533

Houck, R. Edward (804) 698-7517

Lambert, Benjamin J., III (804) 698-7509

Locke, Mamie E. (804) 698-7502

Martin, Stephen H. (804) 698-7511

Miller, Yvonne B. (804) 698-7505

O'Brien, Jay (804) 698-7539

Ruff, Frank M., Jr. (804) 698-7515

Stosch, Walter A. (804) 698-7512

Wagner, Frank W. (804) 698-7507

Wampler, William C., Jr. (804) 698-7540

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6. 2007 FCPC bill tracker up and running!

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See http://www.netxprtva.info/FCPC/GA2007.html and pass it to your friends!

There is some good news from Richmond – 6 anti-privacy bills have been quashed so far – check ‘em out at http://www.netxprtva.info/FCPC/GA2007.html.

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