IP: Privacy villain of the week: California's Dianne Feinstein

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 15:36:19 -0400
> From: James Plummer <jplummer () consumeralert org>
> Subject: NCP: Privacy Villain of the Week - Sen. Dianne Feinstein
>
>            Privacy Villain of the Week:
> Sen. Dianne Feinstein
>
> When Oracle software CEO Larry Ellison 
> <http://www.nccprivacy.org/handv/010927villain.htm> announced his support 
> for a National ID card program heavily dependent on his own company's 
> software, it didn't come as much of a shock to industry-watchers who had 
> seen his company progress from its humble beginnings as a CIA contractor 
> to a firm that employed high-priced Clinton-connected private 
> investigators to dig through the trash of Microsoft supporters.
>
> But some privacy experts may have been surprised to hear that Sen. Dianne 
> Feinstein (D-Ca.) <http://www.senate.gov/~feinstein> has endorsed 
> Ellison's concept of a national ID card. 
> <http://www0.mercurycenter.com/local/center/id101701.htm> After all, isn't 
> this the senator who goes about demanding immediate regulation of business 
> and consumer-to-business practices in the name of 
> "privacy"?  <http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010817S0015>
>
> Of course, Ellison's Oracle would benefit from the "free" software doing 
> so, in the form of installation and upgrade fees. And the rest of 
> Feinstein's home turf -- the Bay Area, Silicon Valley -- would benefit 
> tremendously from the further databasing of Americans. Microchips, 
> subdatabases, (allegedly) secure bandwidth infrastructure, etc., etc.
>
> Feinstein has been proposing national IDs since at least 1995. 
> <http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa237es.html> She has variously supported 
> nationally standardized driver's licenses and cards with biometric 
> identifiers such as fingerprints, retinal scans 
> <http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_2.11.txt> and voice readings 
> required for anyone with a job (to fight illegal immigration, doncha know 
> <http://www.aclu.org/vote-guide/Senate_S1664.html>).
>
> Feinstein and Ellison's efforts are reportedly falling flat 
> <http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-102401idcards.story>, 
> but that doesn't mean Americans serious about their privacy should not 
> keep an eye on those who would seize it. As seen here, they often come 
> back to the issue after a defeat, seemingly angling for a return 
> engagement as Privacy Villain of the Week.
>
>
> The Privacy Villain of the Week and Privacy Hero of the Month are projects 
> of the National Consumer Coalition's Privacy Group. For more information 
> on the NCC Privacy Group, see www.nccprivacy.org or contact James Plummer 
> at 202-467-5809 or jplummer () consumeralert org . To remove yourself from 
> this list, just respond to this message with a removal request. To access 
> this release directly, go to http://www.nccprivacy.org/handv/011025villain.htm


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