Date: Mon, 23 May 94 07:18:43 EST
Errors-To: Comp-privacy Error Handler <owner-comp-privacy@uwm.edu>
From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator <comp-privacy@uwm.edu>
To: Comp-privacy@uwm.edu
Subject: Computer Privacy Digest V4#069
Computer Privacy Digest Mon, 23 May 94 Volume 4 : Issue: 069
Today's Topics: Moderator: Leonard P. Levine
Privacy at the Jiffy Lube!
Details on Brock Meeks Case
Call for Papers (American Sociologist)
SSN & Auto registration
Resources for Information Gatherers
Re: FCC order on interstate Caller ID
Re: Telemugging the Constitution
Re: Credit Check only with Permission Granted
Re: Drivers License & Car Dealer's
The Computer Privacy Digest is a forum for discussion on the effect
of technology on privacy. The digest is moderated and gatewayed into
the USENET newsgroup comp.society.privacy (Moderated). Submissions
should be sent to comp-privacy@uwm.edu and administrative requests
to comp-privacy-request@uwm.edu. Back issues are available via
anonymous ftp on ftp.cs.uwm.edu [129.89.9.18]. Login as "ftp"
with password "yourid@yoursite". The archives are in the directory
"pub/comp-privacy". Archives are also held at ftp.pica.army.mil
[129.139.160.133].
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: sutter@verisoft.com (Paul Sutter)
Date: 19 May 1994 18:27:17 +1700
Subject: Privacy at the Jiffy Lube!
Here in California, when you sell a car the license plate is generally
transferred with the car.
I recently bought a used car from a dealer, and a few months later I
went to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. While waiting, the guy at the
counter called me over and said "Is your license really 2PKY595?" and i
looked out at my car and said "Yes".
"Well we have on file that that car is owned by John Q. Public, who
lives at..."
And I interrupted him and said "Dont tell me where he lives. I just
bought this car used from a dealer. What if I have a problem with the
car, and try to get back at the guy? Its none of my business where he
lives".
I bet if you call Jiffy Lube, they will tell you that the files are
confidential.
------------------------------
From: "Prof. L. P. Levine" <levine@blatz.cs.uwm.edu>
Date: 20 May 1994 09:40:53 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Details on Brock Meeks Case
Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Abstracted from the Computer underground Digest Thu May 19, 1994
(6:43):
Date: 17 May 1994 09:37:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Meeks Defense Fund <fund@idi.net>
Subject: File 1--Details on Brock Meeks Case (fwd)
((MODERATORS' NOTE: Brock Meeks is a respected journalist specializing
in cyber-issues. He was the first to break the story of law enforcement
spying on a 2600 meeting in Washington, D.C. in '92, and he has been an
invaluable source of information and commentary. Those who know him or
have read his material respect his integrity and competence. It was
with shock that we read about the defamation suit against him by
Suarez. We have read the article that Benjamin Suarez finds
objectionable, and Brock's facts would appear to be a matter of public
record.
The following summary explains the case and the issues. We urge readers
to contribute just a dollar or two each to Brock's defense fund)).
Dear Net Citizen:
The recent Internet posting launching a fund raising drive in order to
help Brock Meeks defray the legal expenses of a lawsuit brought against
his news wire, CyberWire Dispatch, has drawn several inquiries for a
summary of the issues involved in this case. In response, we have put
together the following summary. (Please note, too, that the case was
featured in the April 22 (Fri.) issue of the Wall St. Journal (page
B1))
Sometime during February of this year, an electronic solicitation began
appearing on the Internet from a company identified only as the
"Electronic Postal Service" (EPS).
The solicitation from EPS said the service, "will pay you money to
receive commercial e-mail. EPS estimates you will be paid an average of
6.5 cents per commercial e-mail message. It is estimated that the
average commercial e-mail receiver can make $200.00 to $500.00 a year
and likely more. There is absolutely no charge, periodic charge,
hourly charge or phone charge to receive or review EPS commercial
e-mail. The sender bears all of the cost.
You are provided with a free EPS mailbox and you may access this EPS
mailbox through a toll free phone number so there are no phone line
charges... In addition... EPS offers you... full Internet access
including network Internet e-mail remote log-in, file transfer
capability and much more."
To sign up you were required to call an 800 number or send for
information to the EPS Internet account (eps@world.std.com). You had
to include your name and address.
Brock called and asked for the EPS information. It never came.
Instead, he received an unwanted and unsolicited direct mailing from a
company called Suarez Corporation Industries (SCI). The mailing came
in the form of a 6 page letter signed by Benjamin Suarez. That mailing
claimed that for a price of $159, Suarez would send you a book and
software that could help you create a "net profit generation system"
capable of earning anywhere from $30,000 to $1 million per year.
Brock began investigating why he received the SCI mailing and soon
found out that Suarez had obtained his name from the request for EPS
information. More investigation found that the EPS account was
registered to Suarez Corporation Industries. Brock then looked into
the background of this company.
During his investigation into SCI, Brock discovered that state and
federal enforcement agencies had brought actions against SCI result of
their direct mailing practices.
In his article, Brock expressed his personal disapproval of the SCI
business activities. SCI objected to the article and has filed a
defamation lawsuit claiming Brock made defamatory remarks and sought to
disparage his products "and otherwise tortiously (sic) interfere with
the plaintiff's ability to develop" EPS. Suarez claims the Dispatch
article lost him business and he is seeking compensatory and punitive
damages and demanding an injunction to block Brock from writing further
about SCI or its founder, Benjamin Suarez.
The April 22 (page B1) issue of the Wall St. Journal says lawsuit "is
one of the first U.S. libel cases to arise out of the free-for-all on
the Internet... If it succeeds, some legal experts say it could spawn
other complaints."
For those who don't know Brock, he has a long history as a journalist
writing in the on-line field, having written for Byte, Wired and other
journals over the years. He lives and works today in the Washington,
D.C. area writing during the day for a communications trade journal.
Cyberwire Dispatch is his own creation. The suit against him was filed
in Ohio. Without the generous offer of legal support from his current
lawyers, who have offices in Ohio, Brock's situation would be even more
dire.
The Meeks case raises legal issues that may have far-reaching
implications for freedom of speech and free expression on the
internet. If journalists are unable to pursue important investigative
issues without fear of reprisal, then all of us will suffer. This is
exactly the type of chilling effect hat the First Amendment was
intended to avoid and the reason we need your support.
Of course defamation laws are to be applied to the Net, but how they
are applied -- and this case will be an important first step in that
process -- could determine just how open and free people will feel to
speak their minds.
This is NOT a case in which a writer on the Internet has, in fact,
libeled someone else. Brock absolutely denies the charges against
him. And every lawyer that Brock has consulted and looked at the text
Brock wrote, and the charges against him, believe that he ha not
written anything that can fairly be characterized as libelous.
The Legal Defense Fund is formed to assure that Brock is well
defended.
As a reminder, contributions can be made in two ways, either
tax-deductible or non-deductible.
A special thanks goes to the Point Foundation for agreeing early on in
the process to assist in organizing and serving as a collection agent
for the Fund.
If you have any questions, you can contact the Fund at Fund@idi.net.
For tax-deductible contributions send those checks to:
Meeks Defense Fund
c/o Point Foundation
27 Gate Five Road
Sausalito, CA 94965
For those who don't care about the tax deductible status, send
contributions to:
Meeks Defense Fund
c/o IDI
901 15th St. NW
Suite 230
Washington, DC 20005
THE BROCK MEEKS DEFENSE FUND COMMITTEE
Samuel A. Simon
President, Issue Dynamics, Inc.*
ssimon@idi.net
John Sumser
Editor/Executive Director
Whole Earth Review/ Point Foundation
jrsumser@well.sf.ca.us
Mitch Kapor
Chair, Electronic Frontier Foundation*
mkapor@eff.org
David Farber
The Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunications Systems
University of Pennsylvania*
farber@central.cis.upenn.edu
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Senior Writer
TIME Magazine*
ped@panix.com
Marc Rotenberg
Electronic Privacy Information Center*
Rotenberg@epic.org
Nicholas Johnson
Former FCC Commissioner*
1035393@mcimail.com
Jerry Berman
Electronic Frontier Foundation*
jberman@eff.org
Mike Godwin
Electronic Frontier Foundation*
####################################################################
# Meeks Defense Fund | Internet: fund@idi.net #
# ---------------------------------------------------------------- #
# c/o IDI c/o Point Foundation #
# 901 15th St. NW 27 Gate Five Road #
# Suite 230 Sausalito, CA 9465 #
# Washington, DC 20005 #
####################################################################
------------------------------
------------------------------
From: Edward Brent <SOCBRENT@mizzou1.missouri.edu>
Date: 21 May 94 15:32:12 CDT
Subject: Call for Papers (American Sociologist)
CALL FOR PAPERS
The American Sociologist
Special Issue on Electronic Communication and Sociology
The American Sociologist invites submissions for a special issue to be
titled "Electronic Communication and Sociology." Papers should deal
with issues surrounding electronic communication and its implications
for sociology--both good and bad. Electronic communication is broadly
conceived both technologically and socially. It includes Email, local
area networks, modems, faxes, wireless communications, BITNET, the
INTERNET, multimedia, commercial networks and services such as Prodigy
and CompuServe, telecommuting, distance learning, research
collaboration at a distance, sociological studies of electronic
communication, using electronic communication to access scholarly
resources and datasets, electronic journals, reader lists, bulletin
boards, remote access to computers and resources, cyberspace, on-line
conferencing, fax-on-demand, and telephony.
Topics might include but are not limited to the following:
- Implications of electronic communication for distance learning,
extension, and outreach
- How BITNET and the INTERNET are changing research in sociology
- How sociological practice is changing due to electronic communication
- Research opportunities afforded by electronic communication
- Integrating electronic communication & multimedia into the sociology
curriculum
- How will electronic communication change social life?
- Using local area networks to collect data and conduct social
psychological experiments
- Electronic communications as a data source for sociological research
- Invisible colleges in the electronic age
- Security and privacy issues in distributed data
- Problems with electronic communication including threats to productivity
- Weighing electronic publications and other computer-based work in
the tenure decision
- Resources on the INTERNET and their implications for sociological
research and teaching
- The role of sociologists in public policy formation regarding the
information superhighway
- What should the ASA and other professional associations do to take
advantage of electronic communication in the discipline?
Submit four copies of your paper, in TAS style, before March 1, 1995,
to either special-issue coeditor:
Edward Brent Edward Mirielli
Department of Sociology Idea Works, Inc.
University of Missouri 607 Jackson Street
Columbia, MO 65211 Columbia, MO 65203
SOCBRENT@MIZZOU1 RUSOEDM@MIZZOU1
FAX: (314) 875-5812 FAX: (314) 875-5812
Voice: (314) 882-9172 Voice: (314) 875-5827
------------------------------
From: Lane Lenard <72621.2241@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 22 May 94 11:59:22 EDT
Subject: SSN & Auto registration
I recently received my New Jersey auto registration renewal form and
noticed the following note attached to a request for my SSN:
"Submission of the Social Security Numbers is required pursuant to
N.J.A.C. 13:21-1.3. The number will serve as an internal
secondary-identifier to prevent errors, to enforce interstate motor
vehicle laws, and to assist in collecting motor vehicle fees."
This seems to be a blatant misuse of the SSN. Is it legal? Has anyone
every challenged it? If so, with what result?
------------------------------
From: pvteye1@aol.com (PVT EYE 1)
Date: 23 May 1994 06:46:02 -0400
Subject: Resources for Information Gatherers
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Excerpted (with permission) from INFORMATION GATHERER NEWSLETTER
THE GLOBAL COMPANY HANDBOOK is a two volume book set that provides
financial & historical information on 7500+ foreign companies. The
cost of the book is $395. It is available from: Center for
International Financial Analysis and Research, 211 College Road East,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA; Tel: (609) 520-9333; Fax: (609)
520-0905; Telex: 6716479.
U.S. GOVERNMENT REPORTS are made public and available through the
General Accounting Office on the following subjects: Financial
Institutions, Government Operations, Information Management,
International Affairs,
Justice and Law Enforcement, National Defense, and many other topics.
The first copy of each report is free. To be placed on the mailing
list for updates on newly available reports, call (301) 258-4097, or
write: GAO, Box 6015, Gaithersburg, Maryland 10884 USA.
ORGANIZATIONS FOR INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS (and their telephone
numbers) Business Research Institute (718) 990-6161, ext. 6768 Council
of International Investigators (413) 283-7003 Information Industry
Association (202) 639-8260 International Security & Detective Alliance
(512) 888-6164 Investigative Reporters & Editors (314) 882-3364
National Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (800) 872-4678
National Association of Investigative Specialists (512) 928-4544
National Association of Legal Investigators (515) 255-0569 National
Council of Investigative & Security Services (800) 445-8408 National
Information Officers Association (407) 678-1613 The Information
Professionals Institute (713) 537-8344 World Association of Detectives
(301) 544-0119
WORLDWIDE GOVERNMENT DIRECTORY is an annual source book containing
names and addresses of government officials in every country in the
world. It also includes data on International Organizations and
foreign embassies abroad. Both publications are available from:
Belmont Publications, 1454 Belmont St., NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA;
Tel: (202) 232-6334; Fax: (202) 462-5478
LEARNED INFORMATION, INC. publishes books, magazines, papers and other
publications of interest to the information gatherer of every kind.
They also sponser the annual National Online Meeting (of information
Pros). For more details about the products and services of this
excellent resource, contact Learned Information Inc, 143 Old Marlton
Pike, Medford, NJ 08055 USA; Tel: (609) 654-6266; Fax: (609) 654-4309.
DIRECTORIES OF U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL (including Armed
Forces) are available as books & CD-ROM. For a catalog contact: Staff
Directories, Ltd., Mt. Vernon, VA 22121 USA; Tel: (703) 739-0900; Fax:
(703) 739-0234.
THE MARKET FOR ONLINE SERVICES: AN INTRODUCTION is a special report
that gives an overview of the potential of the online services
business. For more information contact: Information & Interactive
Services Report, Box 675, New York, NY 10276 USA; (800) 822-6338; Fax:
(212) 475-1790.
WORLDWIDE LEGAL HELP & INFORMATION is available through the
International Legal Defense Council (ILDC). ILDC is a central data
source for civil and criminal laws around the globe. They also assist
in finding attorneys and provide speakers and materials for seminars.
For more details, contact: D. Atkins, I.L.D.C., 111 S. 15th St., 24th
Fl., Philadelphia, PA 19102 USA.
THE DIRECTORY OF DIRECTORIES is a huge guidebook which lists and
describes 7,820 reference directories of virtually every subject. The
book is published by Gale Research, 645 Griswold, Detroit, MI 48226
USA; (313) 961- 2242.
THE CITIZENS GUIDE TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION & PRIVACY ACTS is
available by mail. To order send $5 ($7 outside the U.S.) to:
Marinelli Publishing Co., 8129 N. 35th Avenue, #134, Phoenix, AZ 85051
USA.
THE CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETIN BOARD is a public access database of
travel advisories, information on passports & immigration, and
international adoption. To access, call: (202) 647-9225 (BBS). For
more details, write: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular
Affairs, Public Affairs Office Room 5807, Washington, DC 10520 USA.
THE INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS INSTITUTE offers seminars, publications,
and audio tapes covering the business of selling information. The
institute is run by Sue Rugge and Helen Burwell, two expert information
brokers. For details contact: The Information Professionals Institute,
3724 F.M. 1960 West, Suite 214, Houston, TX 77068 USA; Tel: (713)
537-8344; Fax: (713) 537-8332; Compuserve 75120,50 Internet
75120.50@compuserve.com
PURPOSE & POLICY STATEMENT: Information Gatherer Newsletter is a
private journal devoted to topics of interest to information
professionals (i.e. investigators, journalists, information brokers,
records researchers,
intelligence analysts, and librarians). It is circulated throughout
the Internet, in addition to various public-sector commercial
networks. Subscription costs are $20/year. Sample copies are $5.
Delivery by Postal or E-mail. Send to: Worldwide Consultants, 2421 W.
Pratt Blvd., Suite 971, Chicago, IL 60645-4621 USA. E-mail:
worldwid@uunet.uu.net (via Internet).
ABOUT THE EDITOR - David Johnson is an international consultant
specializing in privacy, security & investigative matters. He has
lived in the the Far East for almost two years, and has contacts on six
continents. He also regularly assists clients with issues relating to
financial and personal privacy protection, and locating hard-to-find
information.
------------------------------
From: nevin@cs.arizona.edu (Nevin Liber)
Date: 20 May 1994 05:31:24 -0700
Subject: Re: FCC order on interstate Caller ID
Organization: University of Arizona CS Department, Tucson AZ
padgett peterson <padgett@tccslr.dnet.orl.mmc.com> wrote: Where per
line blocking was chosen numerous complaints occurred concerning
the impossibility of the user to tell which way star-six-seven
would toggle the blocking (is it or isn't it, only the callee will
know...). With per call, ther is no question.
Or the telcos could have just come up with a different code for per
call unblocking, instead of using *67 as a toggle. They *deliberately*
(IMHO) didn't do so to make it harder for those who want to block their
number. We should give in to the telcos 'cause this is what they want
to increase their profits?
Second, the person making the call might not be the one who started
the blocking & might not even have any idea of what it is (I live
in tourist world remember).
If someone else is making a call from my phone, why should they
automatically get to broadcast my location?
Finally in an emergency situation it is easy to visualize a cartoon
where the receiver is saying "sorry, first you must dial
star-six-seven before making this call. <click>". All it would take
would be one.
An obscene phone call gets made, and the wrong phone number
accidentally or deliberately gets transmitted. The caller goes over to
the (wrong) caller's house and shoots him. The law does not recognize
this number as evidence; why should the rest of us believe it is
correct? Like credit information, the phone company does not have to
guarantee the correct number, and isn't responsible for the
consequences if they get it wrong. Heck, even if the number is
correct, this bad thing could (and most likely will) happen. It's a
two-edged sword.
I don't advocate blocking to 911 or the operator, and it is hard to
think of other emergency situations where the callee wouldn't accept
the call blindly (as they have to do now in most locations anyway).
Now if there is a special situation where the CNID should *never*
be returned or a different number should display,
I would much rather it displayed *my* phone number than the phone
number of the location I called from. That is what *caller* id
implies, and if it did this, many of the objections would go away.
I say the FCC is right and per-call blocking should be the
default.
Be careful what you wish for...
--
Nevin ":-)" Liber nevin@cs.arizona.edu (602) 293-2799
+++ (520) after 3/95
office: (602) 621-1685
5/28/94 - 6/27/94: (708) 831-FLYS
------------------------------
From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine)
Date: 20 May 94 13:35 EDT
Subject: Re: Telemugging the Constitution
Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) really is
unconstitutional, and the federal district court acted correctly in
striking it down.
The problem is that it restricted speech based on content. In
particular, autodialers promoting commercial products were forbidden,
while those pitching political or non-profit causes were permitted.
The courts have long held that it's legal to restrict the nature and
manner of speech, but not the content.
The message noted various practical issues, notably that judges in
districts other than the Oregon one where the case was heard wouldn't
be bound by that precedent. Any judge can and should void the law on
the same constitutional grounds, although in practice many won't.
What this means is that a law that forbade all autodialers, or that
made exceptions unrelated to content (e.g., you could give permission
for someone to call you, for a service you actually wanted to hear
from) would be entirely OK. We can only hope.
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, jlevine@delphi.com, 1037498@mcimail.com
------------------------------
From: poivre@netcom.com (Poivre)
Date: 23 May 1994 03:45:11 GMT
Subject: Re: Credit Check only with Permission Granted
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
L. E. de Rivaud (rivaud@rain.org) wrote: Sure just don't buy a car
that costs more than $10,000. Pay cash. Then find an insurance
company who doesn't require a ss#. (OR move to a state that does
not require auto insurance. Are there any?)
I just discovered that some dealerships don't require any IDs at all
for a test drive...however, the dealer is with you when you test. As
for auto insurance, Allstate requires SSN. I don't think State Farm
requires SSN...i don't remember having it asked for when i applied for
their insurance.
--
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
poivre@netcom.com : #include <disclaimer.h>
: Altruism Doesn't Pay!!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
------------------------------
From: poivre@netcom.com (Poivre)
Date: 23 May 1994 03:50:56 GMT
Subject: Re: Drivers License & Car Dealer's
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Al Cohan (0004526627@mcimail.com) wrote: About 20 to 30 years ago,
you got to drive with the salesman sitting next to you while you
took the test drive. That worked fine until one day in sunny
California, the driver stopped someone came over from the sidewalk
and pulled the salesman out of the car and jumped in! BTW, there
NEVER did recover the car!
Its criminals like that that spoils everything for the rest of us
honest people *sigh*.
No, you must not only take a test drive with the salesman, but also
leave either your drivers license or have the deal make a copy of
your drivers license. The interesting this is the both driving
without the license in your possession and making a copy of your
license, are both against the law!
I did a test drive and i didnt have to "give up" my ID/DL. But the
salesman did sit with me though.
What the dealer does with the license is conjecture, but I know TRW
for one has a plan where for xx $$ per year they send you a notice
everytime someone checks your credit - telling you who checked. I
know
Hmmm, i think i'll subscribe to that program. Good idea!!
--
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
poivre@netcom.com : #include <disclaimer.h>
: Altruism Doesn't Pay!!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
------------------------------
End of Computer Privacy Digest V4 #069
******************************
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