Copyright 2000 eMediaMillWorks, Inc.
(f/k/a Federal
Document Clearing House, Inc.)
Federal Document Clearing House
Congressional Testimony
April 4, 2000, Tuesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 2934 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY April 04, 2000 RICHARD C. SHELBY SENATOR SENATE
APPROPRIATIONS TRANSPORTATION TRANSPORATION APPROPRIATIONS
BODY:
April 4, 2000 Statement of Senator Richard C
Shelby Transportation Appropriations Hearing Implementing the Driver's Privacy
Protection Act Express Consent Requirement "As we enter the 2lst Century, we
live at a time when the influence of technology in our lives has never been
greater. The advent of personal computers, the Internet, silicon chips, ATM's
and cellular phones have changed almost every aspect of the way we live and have
greatly enhanced the quality of our lives. The introduction of these new
technologies has transformed our society and economy with breakneck speed. In
little more than the blink of an eye we moved from the Industrial Age to the
Digital Age. While the changes bring forth great economic promise and personal
convenience, they also present difficult challenges. One of the most important
of these challenges is establishing ground rules that preserve the privacy
rights of individuals while providing an atmosphere in which society can take
advantage of the advances in information technology." "Because recent
technological innovations have the capability to compile, organize, store, and
transmit data captured from all walks of life, I believe we must pay close
attention to the manner in which personal information is handled in the Digital
Age. Clearly, it would not be an understatement to say that the new "technology
economy" has a voracious appetite for information. Information itself may now be
the most valuable commodity in our economy. Furthermore, personal information is
rapidly becoming the most valuable kind of information. The considerable demand
for this type of information compels businesses to become much more aggressive
in acquiring information to try to better understand anything and everything
about consumers. Medical, credit card, banking, phone records, as well as
personal information collected under force of law by government-records covering
just about every activity in our lives-are being gathered, stored, shared and
sold. "I became interested in the sale of state government records after reading
in several Washington Post articles that South Carolina had sold the photographs
of its 3.5 million drivers to a business in New Hampshire purely for making a
profit. In this case, the business was in the process of building a national
database of drivers' license photographs and personal information to allow
retail clerks to verify consumer's identities. It is a laudable goal to protect
consumers from identity theft, a growing crime whereby fraud artists steal
personal information from their victims to set up phony bank and credit card
accounts and run up huge bills. I am gravely concerned, however, about using
driver's license photographs., coerced from citizens and used without
authorization for any non-official purpose. Public outrage forced South
Carolina, Florida, and Colorado to cancel the proposed bulk sale of driver
photographs. I believe that outrage is a very reliable indicator of the public's
desire to not have their personal information distributed without their
permission. "Sadly, this particular incident is just the tip of the iceberg.
Where as this was the first instance in which states had began selling images
wholesale, for decades they have been routinely selling sensitive personal
information from public records. The technology of the Digital Age has rendered
public record law as obsolete as the transistor. No longer are public records
maintained in file boxes or microfiche drawers in isolation from one another at
government repositories with limited access. Instead, states store public
records in electronic formats and use sophisticated databases that merge and
index all of an individual's information from numerous public records. Some
states are even discussing making certain records available on the Internet. The
personal information required from individuals by all has become too accessible
and potentially too vulnerable to computer pirates. "Unrelated secondary uses of
personal information without the knowledge of the general public-and often
without prior approval- is troubling. Selling personal information for
inspection by anyone does not promote accountability for government or increase
the efficiency of its service to the citizens of that state. I believe, rather,
that it is a violation of the public trust for the government to compel citizens
to reveal their private information and then sell it to outsiders for profit. It
undermines public confidence in government and encourages people to withdraw
from the marketplace and society. I think that the government should either have
express consent prior to making a sale, or keep personal information
confidential absent a compelling need to disclose it. Sales of personal
information to commercial enterprises, solicitors, and direct marketers may
raise money for state governments; but they do not meet a compelling need
standard. In fact, I believe these profits amount to an unauthorized tax on the
privacy of the American people. Rather than taking our money, the government has
appropriated something arguably much more precious, a piece of our lives. "In an
effort to stop unauthorized sales of personal information by state governments,
I included a general provision in the Fiscal Year 2000 Transportation
Appropriations bill that does two things: first, it ties federal transportation
funding to compliance with the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (DPPA)
and second, it requires states to obtain express consent prior to the release of
information in two situations. First, individuals must give their consent before
a state is able "Even as we enjoy the benefits brought about by the surge of new
technologies, most of us are developing an eerie uneasiness that government and
industry are collecting so much personal information. Most of
us suspect that our privacy is at risk and occasionally we get
a tangible glimpse of just how vulnerable our private lives are. Trans Union,
which is one of the three largest credit reporting agencies, was selling the
bank activity, mortgages, car loans, and credit card histories of 160 million
Americans to direct marketers until the Federal Trade Commission ordered it to
stop last month. DoubleClick, Inc., a leading Internet advertising company, was
forced to delay linking web 'cookies,' or histories, to individual accounts
after a public outcry against the practice. The company's massive database that
was put on the shelf would have merged the names, addresses, and other personal
information of Internet users to a log of Web sites each individual had visited
and the purchases each had made on-line. "In any event, I believe that it should
be left to the individual to choose when and how to participate in a marketplace
that has become obsessed with learning his or her personal facts. All of us
already make decisions every day regarding the scope and level of that
participation. For instance, you may join a grocery store membership club that
allows access to special discounts and you should expect your purchasing habits
to undergo a data sweep. You may choose, however, not to enter a particular Web
site for fear that your information would not be secure at that website, and
later choose to take advantage of the convenience of purchasing from a catalog
sent to your home. Just as we have found that some consumers are price-sensitive
and others are time-sensitive in airline tickets purchasing, I believe that in
our new economy, some consumers will be privacy-sensitive and successful
businesses will embrace this by providing consumers with greater control over
the personal information they use or place in the commercial marketplace. "So,
an individual, at his or her discretion, may supply information to private
industry. I was shocked, however, when I teamed that much of what enters private
databases is gathered from government records. Individuals are forced to provide
their names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and vital statistics to the
state when they apply for a drivers license and additionally provide the make,
model, and the unique number of their automobile when they apply to register
their vehicle. This personal information, some of which is rather sensitive, is
not volunteered as it is in private transactions; it is compelled by the state
as a condition of granting the license and enforced with criminal sanctions.
While it is obviously necessary for state governments to collect such
information for its own use, it is insidious that state governments use the
power of law to extract information from you while never intending to keep that
information confidential or seek your consent before sharing that information
with others. to release a category of information. This category is particularly
sensitive information, including photographs, social security numbers, and
medical or disability information. Second, individuals must grant their consent
before the state can sell or release other personal information when it is to be
used for the purpose of direct marketing, solicitations, or individual look- up.
These provisions have ended an unusually loathsome practice- an even dangerous
practice if the information lands in the hands of thugs, thieves, and
stalkers-and promise greater protection for the privacy of the Recently, in on.
a South Carolina case, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the
Driver's Privacy Protection Act. I believe, as do all 9 members of the Supreme
Court in unaccustomed unanimity that the sale of personal information collected
by state governments is clearly within the purview of Congress to regulate in
the national interest. "Unfortunately, in our fervor to transform the economy,
we have not established rules to protect ourselves or our privacy. By pursuing
the unbridled exchange of information, we have proceeded headlong into the modem
equivalent of the unregulated Wild, Wild West and there is no sheriff in Dodge.
We are at the point where strangers, from telemarketers to government
bureaucrats, obtain personal information about us and our children that we would
not discuss at the dinner table much less with a neighbor, and trade on it for
profit. I am not sure this is the direction we want this new frontier to go. I
do not believe that anyone, either in the marketplace or the government, has an
unfettered right to the personal information of Americans. That is why I was
inspired to draft the provision of last year's appropriations act. "I am a firm
believer in free markets and the benefits of the new technology economy. We live
in the most prosperous society on earth because of willingness to embrace free
markets and to adopt new technologies to our goals. However, as we move forward
and technology plays an ever greater role in our lives, it is essential that
technology serves us rather than us serving it. To fully reap the promise of
technology in the Digital Age, it is more important than ever for us to
establish a framework that respects and protects individual freedom and
preserves the ability of individuals to make their own choices. The American
people, as individuals, not state governments or financial service corporations
or Internet service providers, should have the power to decide for themselves
when and how they want to participate in the economy. "It boils down to this: We
have doors on our homes so that outsiders who seek entry must knock and ask our
permission to enter. When we want such people to come in, we invite them. When
we do not want them in, they are not permitted to enter. Doors provide us with
the means to control our interaction with other people. American citizens should
have the power to put 'doors' on all aspects of their private lives and to
expect that anyone who wants to enter must seek and gain consent."
LOAD-DATE: April 12, 2000, Wednesday
