Date: Thu, 17 Sep 92 16:59:50 EST
Errors-To: Comp-privacy Error Handler <comp-privacy-request@PICA.ARMY.MIL>
From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator <comp-privacy@PICA.ARMY.MIL>
To: Comp-privacy@PICA.ARMY.MIL
Subject: Computer Privacy Digest V1#078
Computer Privacy Digest Thu, 17 Sep 92 Volume 1 : Issue: 078
Today's Topics: Moderator: Dennis G. Rears
Address required on checks
Re: Decoding Social Security numbers
SSN and Airline Antitrust Settlement
Re: SSN as College ID
Re: Teletrac
Re: Teletrac
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: James Zuchelli <claris!qm!James_Zuchelli@decwrl.dec.com>
Subject: Address required on checks
Date: 17 Sep 92 00:46:06 GMT
Last year when I bought some books at a local community college they insisted
that I put my street address on the check. (I have my P.O. Box printed on the
checks.) I don't like giving out my address yet they refused to take the
check unless it had an address.
At one point they said they needed so "when your check bounces we can come
find you."
How much right do you have to not give out your phyusical address, how much
right do the school bookstores have to refuse your check if you street address
isn't on it.
(I finally gave them my work address.)
------------------------------
From: David Barr <barr@hardy.u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Decoding Social Security numbers
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 20:30:35 GMT
Steven Hodas <hhll@milton.u.washington.edu> writes:
>The first three digits of a person's Social Security Number indicate
>the state that the person was living in at the time the number was
>assigned (see table). The exceptions to this rule are numbers in the
>700-729 range, which were issued by the Railroad Retirement agency, the
>only such retirement plan to have its own block of SSNs.
>
Interesting. I applied for my SS Number at the American consulate in
Beijing, PRC, near where I was living at the time, and the first three
digits of my number correspond to "Maryland," even though my US
residence was in Washington state.
David
------------------------------
From: rudis+@cs.cmu.edu (Rujith S DeSilva)
Subject: SSN and Airline Antitrust Settlement
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1992 02:31:52 GMT
The claim forms for the Airline Antitrust Settlement ask for `Social Security
Number or Tax I.D.'. I've read the SSN guidelines posted here regularly, but
this case seems different. I really don't want to supply my SSN, and I don't
see why I legally have to. The terms of the settlement clearly define a
`Class' of members (loosely, passengers of some airlines during a certain
period), and say that upon certifying their inclusion in this Class, its
members are eligible to a share of the settlement. Why should I supply my SSN
to certify my claim?
Any thoughts on this? The SSN is probably just requested as an identifier.
On the other hands, I've had miscellaneous forms rejected because of a missing
SSN, and I've got tired of explaining my actions on the borders of forms.
Rujith de Silva.
Pittsburgh, PA.
# I'm studying at Carnegie Mellon, but that has nothing to do with this post.
------------------------------
From: "Carl M. Kadie" <kadie@herodotus.cs.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re: SSN as College ID
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 03:12:36 GMT
"Glenn S. Tenney" <tenney@netcom.com> writes:
[...]
>They posted class lists on each classroom door and... You
>guessed it... These printed lists included names and SSNs!
>Some confidentiality!!
[...]
This was likely a violation of the FERPA.
- Carl
ANNOTATED REFERENCES
(All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.)
=================
law/ferpa
=================
Excerpts from _College and University Student Records: A Legal
Compendium_, Edited by Joan E. Van Tol, 1989. Details the Family
Education Rights and Privacy Act's (Buckley Amendment's) provisions on
directory information.
=================
=================
These document(s) are available by anonymous ftp (the preferred
method) and by email. To get the file(s) via ftp, do an anonymous ftp
to ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4), and get file(s):
pub/academic/law/ferpa
To get the file(s) by email, send email to archive-server@eff.org.
Include the line(s) (be sure to include the space before the file
name):
send acad-freedom/law ferpa
--
Carl Kadie -- kadie@cs.uiuc.edu -- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
------------------------------
From: pjswan@engin.umich.edu (Peter Swanson)
Subject: Re: Teletrac
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 92 20:37:25 EDT
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
In article <comp-privacy1.77.2@pica.army.mil> John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> writes:
>
>So how long is it going to be before such devices will be a mandatory
>part of each automobile sold in the US? And when can we expect laws
>that make it a felony to disable even your own unit?
>
>It is a law enforcement dream: if you want to know the whereabouts of
>anyone, you can at least keep track of his car from a convenient
>central location. Computers could even be used to record the movement
>of each automobile and save that information indefinitely. The suspect
>claims he went to the grocery store the evening of the 12th? Just pull
>up the records and see.
>
The development of this technology is already nearly finished. It is
used extensively by container shipping companies to keep track of
shipments.
The first use of AVI (automatic vehicle identification) technology
will be for tollway billing purposes, so that you won't have to
stop at a tollbooth. Look for this to be showing up in the New York-
Pennsylvania area soon, since the various toll agencies have banded
together to agree on a AVI standard recently. People without the AVI
tags will be photographed if they attempt to use the AVI lanes to
avoid paying the toll.
I would expect that mandatory AVI will be part of the license plate.
A thin passive microwave transceiver could be inserted between the
paint and metal, and you wouldn't even notice it. This would probably
happen first in states with large cities, in order to improve traffic
management. In some places this is already done using cellular phones:
the cellular ID request message can be used to deduce traffic density
and speed if the proportion of cellular/non-cellular drivers is known.
(I know this was done in Detroit as an experiment)
If you can timestamp a series of locations, you can also determine speed
between those locations. Of course, we don't have to worry about that
because none of us break the speed limit, right?
peter
--
| Peter J. Swanson | pjswan@caen.engin.umich.edu |
| Graduate Student | controls specialist |
| Electrical Engineering | |
| University of Michigan | Look! We have guests! |
------------------------------
From: Nigel Allen <Nigel.Allen@lambada.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: Teletrac
Organization: Echo Beach
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 00:49:42 GMT
In article <comp-privacy1.77.2@pica.army.mil> John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> writes:
>
>So how long is it going to be before such devices will be a mandatory
>part of each automobile sold in the US? And when can we expect laws
>that make it a felony to disable even your own unit?
Another splendid argument in favor of public transit... except, of course,
that the monthly transit passes in Toronto have a magnetic stripe, and one
might not want to admit being in the vicinity of the Ossington subway
station at 3:30 p.m. on a Monday.
But if you pay by cash, ticket or token, you have a reasonable chance
of anonymity.
--
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
internet: bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
------------------------------
End of Computer Privacy Digest V1 #078
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