Copyright 1999 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
October 8, 1999, Friday Final
SECTION: News Pg. 1
LENGTH:
610 words
HEADLINE: State ranked in top 10 for guarding
privacy
Survey hails Wisconsin laws as legislators push for further
protections
BYLINE: DAVE UMHOEFER
SOURCE: Journal Sentinel staff
BODY:
Wisconsin residents enjoy some of the
strongest government protections of personal privacy in the nation, according to
a 50-state survey released Thursday.
Strong laws on patient
confidentiality, the right to sue for invasion of privacy and the ability to
correct errors in state records help put the state in the top tier, the Privacy
Journal survey found.
The publication ranked Wisconsin, Minnesota and
Illinois in its top 10 based on a review of state laws, regulations, personnel
practices and court rulings. Ranked at the rear were Idaho, Missouri, South
Carolina and Texas.
Two new privacy laws were included in the biennial
budget approved this week by the Legislature. One would require prison inmates
to identify themselves when doing telephone work for the state lottery and for
the road construction hotline. Inmates also would have to identify themselves
when doing telemarketing for charities.
Another law would tighten
requirements for medical and financial firms to destroy records before disposal
to discourage so-called "Dumpster diving" for personal information.
In
addition, Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids) and Sen. Jon Erpenbach
(D-Middleton) are pushing a move to give people "ownership rights" when their
names are sold to marketers from state government files such as driver's license
records. They envision that one day people might be entitled to royalty checks
if their names are sold and used for profit by others.
Both lawmakers
are on the Governor's Task Force on Privacy.
Wisconsin was way out front
in 1993 when it hired an advocate to protect privacy and
mediate disputes over the release of personal information.
Gov. Tommy G. Thompson's elimination in 1995 of the position, held by
Carole Doeppers, was seen as a blow to advances in privacy protection, according
to Robert Ellis Smith, publisher of the Rhode Island-based Privacy Journal and a
former newspaper journalist. The journal has tracked privacy issues for 25
years.
Still, Smith said, Wisconsin stands out because it:
Is
one of a small number of states that protect patient confidentiality and
safeguard medical records. Patients have good access to their medical files.
Allows for erasure of arrest records for the innocent.
Has a
strong confidentiality law on library check-out information.
Is better
than many in allowing residents to see and correct personal information
contained in state files.
Allows employees to view their personnel
files.
Other top-10 states in the study were California, Connecticut,
Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. Within the top 10,
states were not given specific rankings.
Schneider said Wisconsin's high
ranking, while deserved, did not mean all was well.
He said restrictions
still were needed on distribution of credit card data, Social Security numbers
and other information. He decried grocery stores that require personal
information before giving out discount cards.
He also called it
outrageous that the state asks for Social Security numbers on hunting and
fishing licenses.
The Internet, the easy availability of information in
massive database programs and the bulk sale of government information have
raised red flags among the public.
Those concerns, while valid, could
needlessly lead to a weakening of Wisconsin's very strong open records law,
Attorney General Jim Doyle told Journal Sentinel editorial writers this week.
The law gives the public and the media access to government records.
Wisconsin can preserve its tradition of open government and still
address worries over loss of privacy, Doyle said.
LOAD-DATE: October 9, 1999 
