[108201] in Cypherpunks
driver license pictures sold
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vladimir Z. Nuri)
Mon Feb 8 20:05:18 1999
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Date: Mon, 08 Feb 99 16:49:42 -0800
From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Reply-To: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
------- Forwarded Message
Subject:
Release: drivers license photos
Date:
Mon, 01 Feb 99 05:45:40 PST
From:
announce@lp.org
To:
announce@lp.org (Libertarian Party announcements)
- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
=======================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.lp.org/
=======================================
For release: February 1, 1999
=======================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: 76214.3676@Compuserve.com
=======================================
Should state governments be allowed
to sell your drivers license photo?
WASHINGTON, DC -- The decision by three states to sell millions
of drivers license photographs to a private company is a "picture
perfect" example of why you can't trust politicians to protect your
privacy, the Libertarian Party said today.
"Without your permission, politicians in three states have
decided to sell your most personal possession -- your image," said
Steve Dasbach, the party's national director. "If we don't stop them
now, what will they sell next?"
In what is being described as the latest "Big Brother" privacy
scandal, politicians in three states -- Florida, South Carolina, and
Colorado -- have agreed to sell a combined total of 22.5 million
drivers license photographs to Image Data LLD, a private anti-fraud
company in New Hampshire.
Image Data LLD said it will use the photos to build a
nationwide photographic database, which retail establishments can use
to confirm the identity of customers who cash checks or use credit
cards.
But whether such a database will actually prevent fraud, the
Libertarian Party said politicians have no right to sell people's
images, especially without their permission.
"Your photographic image represents the essence of who you are,
and politicians should not be able to sell it to the highest bidder,"
said Dasbach. "It is a classic case of identity theft -- and the
ultimate violation of your personal privacy."
Americans seem to agree: Already, residents of South Carolina
and Florida are flooding state offices with complaints about the
program. Politicians in South Carolina said they will attempt to
retrieve the photographs, and legislation may be filed in Florida to
curb the practice.
In addition, at least two states, New Hampshire and Louisiana,
have refused to sell drivers license photos. Other states -- including
Maryland and Virginia -- have laws which restrict access to such
photographs.
But even if a few states stop the sale of drivers license
photos, that leaves dozens of other states that may decide to sell them
later, Dasbach noted.
And photographs are just a small part of the flood of personal
data -- ranging from mandated fingerprints on drivers licenses, to
omnipresent Social Security numbers, to roving wiretaps, to the new
"Know Your Customer" bank spying law, to cameras mounted on traffic
lights, to the "Deadbeat Dad" federal employment database -- the
government collects about its citizens, he said.
"Your privacy is under assault from a hundred laws and
government agencies," Dasbach said. "Big Brother is already watching
you -- only now, he's got a camera in his hands and plans to sell your
photograph."
The controversy over the sale of the drivers license photos
also illustrates an important difference between the government and
private companies when it comes to privacy, said Dasbach.
"With the government, you usually can't say no," he noted. "For
example, you have no choice about surrendering your photographic image
if you want a drivers license. And once the government has acquired
that image, you have limited ability to stop politicians and
bureaucrats from doing whatever they wish with it.
"By contrast, you have a great deal of control over private
companies. A new consumer privacy survey by Louis Harris/Alan Westin
revealed that almost 80% of Americans have refused to give a company or
business information they thought was too personal or unnecessary. And
if a private company invades your privacy, you can refuse to do
business with them -- an option you don't have with the government."
Whatever the outcome of the drivers license photo debate,
Dasbach said he hopes the controversy will send a message to Democratic
and Republican politicians that Americans simply won't stand for such
violations of their privacy.
"Americans are tired of being photographed, numbered, filed,
monitored, recorded, and cross-referenced by the government," he said.
"We're tired of having our personal information abused by politicians.
We want our privacy back."
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