Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 10:33:53 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 V5#040
Computer Privacy Digest Thu, 29 Sep 94 Volume 5 : Issue: 040
Today's Topics: Moderator: Leonard P. Levine
Reason 83: Vichy France
Reason 87: Human Rights Declaration
Reason 9: Privacy is a Basic Concept
Cybernautics Digest, A New Publication
Re: Medical Information Privacy
Re: Post Office Boxes
Re: Find E-Mail Address?
An Invitation to Hear Your Opinion!
US Should Forbid Export of Digital Wiretap Technology
Info on CPD Contributions, Subscriptions, FTP, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Marc Rotenberg <rotenberg@washofc.epic.org>
Date: 28 Sep 1994 12:49:40 EST
Subject: Reason 83: Vichy France
Organization: Electronic Privacy Information Center
100 Reasons to Oppose the FBI Wiretap Bill
Reason 83: The Vichy government routinely monitored telephone
calls and treated attempts to have private conversations as
criminal acts.
A new book by historian Antonie Lefebure, entitled "Secret
Conversations of the French Under the Occupation" documents that
between 1940 and 1944, the Vichy government was engaged in widespread
surveillance of French citizens. In once case two Dutch refugees
speaking in their native tongue were interrupted by an operator who
demanded that they speak in French. When they protested, the operator
sent a report to the police recommending that they be arrested.
(Reuters Library Report, Nov 23, 1993, reprinted in International
Privacy Bulletin, vol. 2 no. 1)
-> 9/28 NEWS UPDATE: Senate Judiciary Committee approves wiretap
-> plan, but opposition from individual Senators still likely. Rep.
-> Brooks to consider bill.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
What To Do: Contact your Senator. Urge a no vote on S. 2375, the
FBI Wiretap proposal. Fax Rep. Jack Brooks 202/225-1584. Express
your concerns. Staff in both the House and Senate report that these
messages are making a difference.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
100 Reasons is a project of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC) in Washington, DC. For more information: 100.Reasons@epic.org.
========================================================================
------------------------------
From: Marc Rotenberg <rotenberg@washofc.epic.org>
Date: 28 Sep 1994 13:00:44 EST
Subject: Reason 87: Human Rights Declaration
Organization: Electronic Privacy Information Center
100 Reasons to Oppose the FBI Wiretap Bill
Reason 87: The wiretap proposal is contrary to the spirit of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides
for the right of privacy and the right to communicate
freely.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in 1948,
states that "everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, *receive and impart information and ideas
through any media*." Article 12 says that "no one shall be subjected
to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or
*correspondence*."
The wiretap bill is contrary to both of these important human rights
principles.
-> 9/28 NEWS UPDATE: Senate Judiciary Committee approves wiretap
-> plan, but opposition from individual Senators still likely. Rep.
-> Brooks to consider bill.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
What To Do: Contact your Senator. Urge a no vote on S. 2375, the
FBI Wiretap proposal. Fax Rep. Jack Brooks 202/225-1584. Express
your concerns. Staff in both the House and Senate report that these
messages are making a difference.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
100 Reasons is a project of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC) in Washington, DC. For more information: 100.Reasons@epic.org.
========================================================================
------------------------------
From: Marc Rotenberg <rotenberg@washofc.epic.org>
Date: 29 Sep 1994 07:28:53 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Reason 9: Privacy is a Basic Concept
Organization: Electronic Privacy Information Center
100 Reasons to Oppose the FBI Wiretap Bill
Reason 9: The last time such a sweeping change in wiretap law was
considered, AT&T recommended *a ban on all eavesdropping* except
in national security cases.
In 1967, when the federal wiretap law was first debated, a vice
president of AT&T said that the Bell System favored a ban on all
eavesdropping except in national security cases: "Privacy of
communications is a basic concept in our busines. We believe the public
has an inherent right to feel that they can use the telephone with
confidence, just as they talk face to face. Any undermining of this
confidence would seriously impair the usefulness and value of telephone
communications." (Lapidus, Eavesdropping on Trial).
-> 9/28 NEWS UPDATE: Senate Judiciary Committee approves wiretap plan,
-> but opposition from individual Senators still likely. Rep. Brooks
-> to consider bill.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
What To Do: Contact your Senator. Urge a no vote on S. 2375, the FBI
Wiretap
proposal. Fax Rep. Jack Brooks 202/225-1584. Express your concerns. Staff
in both the House and Senate report that these messages are making a
difference.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
100 Reasons is a project of the Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC) in Washington, DC. For more information: 100.Reasons@epic.org.
========================================================================
------------------------------
From: John Shaw <johnshaw@cuix.pscu.com>
Date: 28 Sep 1994 18:18:35 GMT
Subject: Cybernautics Digest, A New Publication
Organization: Computer Users Information Exchange
**********************************************************************
NEW PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT
**********************************************************************
CYBERNAUTICS DIGEST
---
A MONTHLY SUMMARY OF WRITINGS
ABOUT CONVERGING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
**********************************************************************
_Cybernautics Digest_, a 20-page monthly newsletter published in
Seattle starting in November 1994 is designed for those who wish to
stay abreast of the literature about converging information
technologies. Because the best writing about significant information-
technology developments is scattered among hundreds of niche-oriented
publications, it is difficult to stay informed without spending
considerable time in a good research library. The situation is
particularly ironic at a time when digital technology is blurring the
lines between traditional business markets--a phenomenon known as
"digital convergence."
_Cybernautics Digest_ is designed to give readers advance warning
about developments outside their traditional areas of interest. Its
editors follow hundreds of publications in a wide range of areas to
locate the most informative reports about key technological
developments that may cut across traditional market boundaries. The
objective is to provide a "whole systems" perspective on the global
information industry.
_Cybernautics Digest_ contains brief summaries of important articles
published mainly in the business and technical press. The focus is on
those articles that provide insightful analysis of new information
technologies, business trends, and public-policy issues. Aside from
summarizing this literature, editors provide readers with details
about how they can obtain the full text of articles mentioned, either
by mail or electronically through full-text databases.
The publication is written for those in such fields as product
development, marketing, planning, research, finance, journalism,
consulting, and education. It would also be of value to serious
technology enthusiasts.
The concept for the publication was developed by Terry Hansen,
founding editor of _Puget Sound Computer User_ in Seattle. In 1983,
while completing his master's degree in science journalism at the
University of Minnesota, Hansen became managing editor of _Computer
User_ in Minneapolis (now the heart of a national network). In 1986
he moved to Seattle, a major hub of the PC software industry, to help
found _Puget Sound Computer User_, currently one of the most
successful and widely read publications of its kind, and the first
successful spinoff of the Minnesota edition.
"Cybernautics," is a synthetic word which means "exploration of the
digital machine." Thus, the publication is a digest of articles about
the global digital machine, in all its aspects.
Future editions of _Cybernautics Digest_ may be available via a World
Wide Web server but initial issues will be distributed via first-class
mail only.
SUMMARY OF BASIC FACTS:
-----------------------
Publication title: _Cybernautics Digest_
Premiere issue: November 1994
Frequency: Monthly
Size: 20 pages per issue (approx.)
Cost: $24 per year ($36 CDN; elsewhere via airmail: $48 US)
Visa/Master Card accepted. Include card number and
expiration date.
Editor: Terry Hansen (twhansen@cuix.pscu.com)
Publisher: KFH Publications, Inc.
3530 Bagley Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98103
Phone: 206/547-4950
Fax: 206/547-5355
Sample copies: $2 each ($3 CDN; $4 US internationally). Free to
members of the media.
Subscription requests to:
Cybernautics Digest
c/o Subscriptions
3530 Bagley Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98103
**********************************************************************
EOF
------------------------------
From: SchwartzM@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL
Date: 28 Sep 94 18:39 EDT
Subject: Re: Medical Information Privacy
In Privacy Digest V5-039, Richard Goldstein inquires about security and
privacy in medical records. The present status of such issues are the
topic of discussion at this year's National Computer Security
Conference (October 12 in Baltimore) in the forum of a panel that I am
chairing on this subject. The panel will include leading experts in
the field from the U.S. Congress, the Institute of Medicine, the
Computer Based Patient Record Institute, ANSI Health Care Information
Standards Planning Panel and others.
This issue is becoming increasingly important as computers become an
integral part of the health care system. Given the interest in use of
the National Information Infrastructure in this domain, it is becoming
paramount that legal, technological and human behavioral solutions be
seriously considered. This panel will address these issues in depth.
Additional sources of information on this subject are available from a
variety of locations, including the following:
The Computer Based Patient Record: An Essential Technology for Health
Care. The Institute of Medicine, 1991
Health Data in the Information Age: Use, Disclosure and Privacy The
Institute of Medicine, 1994
Protecting Privacy in Computerized Medical Information U.S. Congress
Office Of Technology Assessment (OTA-TCT-576), 1993
The current status on the legal front reveals a plethora of state based
statutes that can differ substantially on their content. Many states
have laws (so-called "Quill-Pen" laws), that actually prohibit the full
computerization of the medical record. The laws will vary in their
level of protection and the requirements on the part of the holders of
the information. This will vary depending upon whether the information
is patient identified (a unique patient identifier is included in the
data set), patient identifiable (a set of related data without a unique
identifier that can be "linked" to other sources to identify a
patient), and non-identifiable (the data set can in no way be linked to
an individual). These requirements will also be unique to the type of
data that is stored, for example HIV related or other "lifestyle" data
is afforded a greater level of protection. Many laws have components
that will define whether or not informed consent is required from the
patient to collect the data, what the data may be used for and for how
long the data may be retained.
There are also certain exclusions in terms of the legal
"discoverability" related to the data. For example, many states have
mechanisms to facilitate "Peer Review Organizations" to allow for the
review of clinical data for quality assurance purposes. This data can
then be immune to subpoena.
On the federal level there are some existing laws that pertain to the
government's use of such data including the Federal Privacy Act and the
Americans With Disabilities Act.
In the past year, several federal laws have been presented to pre-empt
or supercede the myriad state laws to facilitate a national standard,
in recognition that this is a national, not just a state based
problem. These include the following:
HR-4077: The Fair Health Information Practices Act of 1994 Congressman
Condit et al.
S-2129: The Heath Care Privacy Protection Act Senator Leahy et al
S-1779: National Health Care Data Network Senator Wofford et al
In the mean time, the state based laws are the domain that one
collecting such data must work within. There are a variety of
technological means available to provide a framework for meeting these
laws (including various identification and authentication mechanisms,
data encryption and related technologies), but without appropriate
consideration of the human behavioral issues, such solutions can be
weakened to the point of being worthless. More often than not,
inappropriate disclosure of such data comes not from people hacking (or
cracking) a system, but from legitimate insiders who have access to
such systems and then abuse that access for personal gain. It is the
latter type of behavior that is the weakest link in the chain. We must
make sure the legal structure is in place to provide a disincentive to
act in such a manner, and that the laws are in fact upheld when enacted
in such cases.
Marc Schwartz
Director of Clinical Services
Summit Medical Systems, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
P.S. This msg was cross-posted to the RISKS forum.
------------------------------
From: John Medeiros <71604.710@compuserve.com>
Date: 29 Sep 94 00:06:14 EDT
Subject: Re: Post Office Boxes
Mark Mullins <mark.mullins@chaos.lrk.ar.us> asked: Is there a way
for one to find out WHO paid the $2 fee to find out your home
address?? Is the information recorded permanently?? How long does
it take to find this information out??
Current Post Office regulations state that individual home and P.O. Box
address information is NOT to be disclosed. Business address and P.O.
Box information may be disclosed to anyone who requests it for a $3.00
fee.
There are exceptions for WRITTEN requests by government agencies, law
enforcement and process servers. The information may also be disclosed
if it is the subject of a court order. A subpoena does not constitute
a court order under this regulation unless it is signed by a judge.
------------------------------
From: jaburns@zooul.jcpenney.com
Date: 29 Sep 94 08:01:44 CDT
Subject: Re: Find E-Mail Address?
Organization: JCPenney Co. Inc.
<levinson@sunbow.dab.ge.com> writes: Does anyone know how to locate
someones E-Mail address. He is an old high school buddy and has a
unique last name. Thanks..
Try the Internet White Pages, available in the technical section of
most bookstores!!
--
John A. Burns
------------------------------
From: 2020 World <year2020@seatimes.com>
Date: 26 Sep 1994 08:00:02 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: An Invitation to Hear Your Opinion!
The year 2020, what will it be like? By then, the big version of what
we call the info-highway will have been with us for some time. Society
will have undergone major adjustments, earthquake-sized shifts.
Today's journalism about the info-highway misses the point. What
difference does it make if it's coax or fiber, PC or set-top box, TCI
or AT&T. What matters is how it will change our world.
Our world will change dramatically. How? Where? What? Today, if you
are curious about this stuff, you have two choices; read the Time
magazine-type "general interest" feature written by someone who hasn't
got a clue, or read the Wired magazine-type "top ten"
Industry-leaders/ futurists (you know who they are!) lecture us on
their particular vested interest. Either way, the real changes are not
being discussed. Let's change that.
I want to invite you to participate in a global group exploration of
life in the year 2020. Let me introduce myself and then explain. My
name is Kurt Dahl and I am currently the Vice President of Information
Technology at The Seattle Times (Seattle's major metro newspaper). I
am writing a new weekly column that will be published in the Sunday
Seattle Times Personal Technology section.
The column is called 2020world. The idea of 2020world is to explore
how our lives will change when the information highway is a familiar
and integral part of our society. The column will *NOT* be about
technology, that's why I picked the year 2020, by then we can all agree
that a broadband, fully switched, ubiquitous network will have been in
place for many years. How that network will change our lives, not how
it will work, is the question 2020world will address.
So now you are thinking -- I really don't need to read more
simple-minded drivel about the information highway. I agree, you
don't, and won't. 2020world will explore ideas that are far outside
the typical, boring discussions of home-shopping and video-on-demand.
Yet it will be written for the general reader. Let me show you how. I
have included the first column from September 25th, as an example.
Please read it, then you will get the idea.
Here is where you come in, and this is the most impo~ To join in,
simply reply (as shown below) and you will automatically be enrolled as
a subscriber to our mailing list. Each week the new 2020world column
will be e-mailed to you as well as the best and most exciting comments
and responses. If you want to respond, simply send an e-mail to our
address (also included below). Any questions, send me an e-mail or
call.
But first, read the inaugural column! Here goes...
Copyright 1994 Seattle Times Company [permission to copy was
explicitely given, see below. MODERATOR]
2020world column title: Emily is illiterate
The information superhighway -- aren't you tired of reading about it?
And it doesn't even exist! But it will. And after it's built, we will
live in a very different world.
How different and in what ways? What you have read in the press so far
is a lot of trivial chatter about "home shopping" and movies-on-demand"
combined with boring technical details. These stories just don't come
close to capturing the profound changes we will experience. To better
understand where we are going we need a new approach, fresh ideas.
That's what this column will try to do.
Let's discover this new world together. Let's use one of the most
intriguing new capabilities of the information superhighway: the
concept of group-mind. Here's how: I'll start with an original,
sometimes outrageous, thought about life in the year 2020, and you send
me your reaction to that idea. I'll organize the most thoughtful,
expansive and mind-stretching responses, and we will print them.
Your thoughts and questions can lead us in new directions. Over time
we will follow these "group-mind" wanderings whichever way they go. If
we succeed, 2020world will be as much your space as mine.
It's the year 2020, your daughter Emily is 9 years old, and she
can't read or write. Is this your worst nightmare about our schools
come true? Nope, Emily just doesn't need to read or write anymore.
The written word is a means to an end and not an end in itself. We use
it to communicate with large groups and to preserve ideas, but we
prefer the spoken word. In 2020world, with the ability to create,
store and send audio and video as easily as written words, why would we
need to read and write?
Look inside your own head. Do you store information as written words?
Do you dream in written words? No, you don't. Visual images and
spoken languages are our natural form of information. Writing is
nothing more than a technology. It can be replaced by something
better. In fact, some forms of the written word are being replaced
right now, like shorthand. Can you think of other dead technologies?
I'll bet you are now in the "but what about..." stage:
But what about education? Video can do anything books can do;
well-produced video can do many things better. Which is the better way
to learn about the Civil War -- reading a text for 10 hours or watching
10 hours of Ken Burns' PBS production on the Civil War?
But what about the law? Don't we need the precision implied by written
rules? Perhaps, but wouldn't videos of the original trials,
legislative debates, rulings and precedents be a better guide to future
generations than law books?
Send me your own "but what abouts." But make sure to include your
thoughts about how the 2020world would deal with those situations,
too.
Does Emily really need to read and write in 2020world? I don't think
so. Do you?
**************************************************************
* *
* Kurt Dahl is vice president of information technology at *
* The Seattle Times. The views he expresses here are not *
* necessarily those of The Seattle Times Company. *
* *
**************************************************************
SUBSCRIPTION INSTRUCTIONS:
2020world is currently an unmoderated list, however, there are plans to
implement the DIGEST option. All mail sent to this list will be sent to
all other subscribers.
To subscribe, mail to:
majordomo@seatimes.com
and, include in body of text: subscribe 2020world
If you choose not to subscribe, but would like to e-mail me directly with
your comments, my address is:
year2020@seatimes.com
or, call me at:
206-464-3339
or, FAX me at:
206-382-8898
Thanks for taking the time to read this loonnggg e-mail. Please join
in and help us understand the real nature of our world after the
information highway is built. Send your subscription e-mail right
now! I'm looking forward to adding your thoughts to our discussion.
One last request, please forward this invitation to those who you think
would be interested.
Thanks!
Kurt Dahl
------------------------------
From: crawford@scipp.ucsc.edu (Mike Crawford)
Date: 29 Sep 1994 06:06:20 GMT
Subject: US Should Forbid Export of Digital Wiretap Technology
Organization: The Human Race
The United States Congress is considering bills to require telephone
equipment manufacturers to make their equipment easy to wiretap.
While the Digital Telephony bills (H.R 4922 and S. 2375) may concern to
Americans who worry that the government will overstep its legal
authority to tap phone calls, it presents a truly horrifying prospect
to the citizens of many other countries.
Many countries, perhaps most countries, make no pretense of
guaranteeing their citizens due process. In such countries, equipment
that met the standards required by this bill would be a powerful weapon
of political repression.
Further, even democratic governments may use such equipment to spy on
the offices of American companies doing business in their countries.
I suggest that the bill be amended, so that in the event that it does
pass, to require strict export controls over equipment that is "wiretap
ready".
At the very least, wiretap-ready equipment should be controlled as
rigorously as the export of military weapons. I assert that the
controls should be tighter - we should only allow export to countries
that have legal protections that are at least as rigorous as required
in the US, and also that really enforce such laws. Further, we should
require evidence of long-term stability to avoid the possibility that a
democratic government will be overthrown by a totalitarian regime that
will then use our technology to evil ends. Wiretap ready equipment
could even destabilize democratic governments, if the governments are
unable to prevent political opponents or insurgents from covertly using
the wiretapping system.
Such export rules should be closely monitored by Congress. History
shows that the administrative branch often bends the rules to favor
foreign policy convenience over human rights. For example, the Reagan
and Bush administrations routinely refused political asylum to citizens
of El Salvador, even when such refugees had credible reason to fear
murder at the hands of the death squads.
A possible solution would be for Congress to authorize export to
particular countries for only a year or two at a time. Each year the
relevant committee could take testimony from the State department,
business groups, and international human rights organizations, and pass
a bill to allow export to the qualifying countries.
Consider that high-tech wiretaps are in some ways more dangerous than
bullets or bombs. Once a bomb has exploded, it is not dangerous
anymore. A national phone system with built-in monitoring system would
last for many years, even outlasting the governments and corporations
that originally installed them.
If America really stands for liberty, we will take great care before
unleashing this weapon on the world.
If you agree with me, call or fax your Senators and Representatives.
Suggest they introduce this amendment. I also suggest that special
attention be paid to such people as Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who leads
Congress in the effort to hold the People's Republic of China, and
other legislators with an interest in the human rights climate in other
countries.
A list of Senate fax and phone numbers follows, copied from a previous
post made by EPIC.
[I have placed that list in the CPD Archives, it has been posted
here once already. MODERATOR]
--
Mike Crawford
crawford@scipp.ucsc.edu
------------------------------
From: "Prof. L. P. Levine" <levine@blatz.cs.uwm.edu>
Date: 26 Sep 1994 12:45:51 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Info on CPD Contributions, Subscriptions, FTP, etc.
Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The Computer Privacy Digest is a forum for discussion on the effect of
technology on privacy or vice versa. 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.
If you read this from the comp.society.privacy newsgroup and wish to
contribute a message, you should simply post your contribution. As a
moderated newsgroup, attempts to post to the group are normally turned
into eMail to the submission address below.
On the other hand, if you read the digest eMailed to you, you generally
need only use the Reply feature of your mailer to contribute. If you
do so, it is best to modify the "Subject:" line of your mailing.
Contributions generally are acknowledged within 24 hours of
submission. An article is printed if it is relevant to the charter of
the digest. If selected, it is printed within two or three days. The
moderator reserves the right to delete extraneous quoted material. He
may change the subject line of an article in order to make it easier
for the reader to follow a discussion. He will not, however, alter or
edit or append to the text except for purely technical reasons.
A library of back issues is available on ftp.cs.uwm.edu [129.89.9.18].
Login as "ftp" with password identifying yourid@yoursite. The archives
are in the directory "pub/comp-privacy".
People with gopher capability can most easily access the library at
gopher.cs.uwm.edu.
Mosaic users will find it at gopher://gopher.cs.uwm.edu.
Older archives are also held at ftp.pica.army.mil [129.139.160.133].
---------------------------------+-----------------------------------------
Leonard P. Levine | Moderator of: Computer Privacy Digest
Professor of Computer Science | and comp.society.privacy
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | Post: comp-privacy@uwm.edu
Box 784, Milwaukee WI 53201 | Information: comp-privacy-request@uwm.edu
| Gopher: gopher.cs.uwm.edu
levine@cs.uwm.edu | Mosaic: gopher://gopher.cs.uwm.edu
---------------------------------+-----------------------------------------
------------------------------
End of Computer Privacy Digest V5 #040
******************************
.