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From: "Jeff Mazzella" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Declan McCullagh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Califronia Selling Birth Records of their citizens Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 10:30:30 -0500 Declan, <http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/privacy29.htm>http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/privacy29.htm I thought the politechbot readers would be interested in an article (attached above) that was published in the San Jose Mercury News. Apparently the state of California is in the business of selling their citizens' birth records (in this case to an online genealogy company that posted the information on the web). Access to such personal information, including a person's place of birth and mother's maiden name, could potentially be used by criminals to obtain false identities. Furthermore, such info could potentially be used to access someone's bank account or medical information. Pretty scary stuff. After taking some heat from several groups, the website that purchased the information (<http://www.rootsweb.com>www.rootsweb.com) removed the removed it form their site, and posted a statement on its homepage stating, it was "committed to protecting the privacy of our customers." I am curious to learn more about states selling such information. Thanks, Jeff ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
