Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 00:36:35 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <200010250436.AAA16812@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov
Subject: oppose the Gregg provision in the Commerce-Justice-State spending bill

Dear Senator Kerry

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose a provision of the Commerce-
Justice-State spending bill that has been introduced by Senator Gregg.
While touted as a way of curtailing the availability of Social Security
Numbers, the provision-which Senator Gregg calls "Amy Boyer's Law" -is
riddled with loopholes and exceptions for special interests which would
render its privacy protections meaningless.

Although named for Amy Boyer, the young victim of an Internet stalker who
traced her an information broker,  the measure includes at least two exceptions
that would protect information brokers while doing nothing to shield future Amy
Boyers.  It even includes an exception permitting industry use of SSN's to
create consumer profiles.

In addition, by barring display of SSN's by virtually any person anywhere for
any purpose, the provision runs headlong into the First Amendment's free speech
protections.  A better way to protect privacy would be to place restrictions on
the purchase and sale of SSN's, and on government and business use of SSN's.

This legislation is opposed by a wide array of privacy groups, including the
Consumer Federation of America, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the
Identity Theft Resource Center, the National Consumers League, and U.S. Public
Interest Research Group.  I understand that this provision was written by, and
for, the very industry interests that make it their business to invade privacy
by constructing consumer profiles from databases linked by consumers' SSN's.  

I hope that you'll opposed this flawed measure, and will support future
legislation that will do something meaningful to protect individual privacy.