-Caveat Lector- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 15:2:25 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: ACLU ACTION UPDATE; Protect Your Data Privacy! TO: ACLU Action Network FR: Bob Kearney, ACLU Field Director DT: June 18, 1999 After months of much talk and little action, Congress will soon vote on several critical privacy issues. As you will see below, we are closely monitoring developments on the protection of financial and medical records and the security of information we give to obtain a driver's license. 1. Financial Records Privacy Public outrage at the erosion of data privacy has reached new highs. Yet at this very moment, Congress is poised to miss an opportunity to improve the privacy of our financial records! On July 1st, the House of Representatives passed HR 10, a financial services bill that fails to adequately protect financial privacy. At the same time the bill removes the legal walls that currently separate banks, securities firms and insurance companies, it fails to replace those walls with privacy protections to allow people to control the flow of personal information they submit to their bank or insurance company. This bill must be reconciled with a Senate version of the legislation. Please urge your members of Congress to push for real protections before it is too late! TAKE ACTION! See the list of protections that the ACLU is recommending to Congress, and send a FREE FAX that you can personalize to your member of Congress, from our action alert at: http://www.aclu.org/action/finprivacyhr10106.html 2. Medical Privacy Also contained in HR 10 is an amendment offered by Congressman Grag Ganske (R-IA) that purports to protect medical privacy. But this provision includes a laundry list of exceptions that will leave patients with virtually no protections for their medical records. In fact, the Ganske amendment actually offers weaker protections for medical records than current law! TAKE ACTION! Join the ACLU, the American Association of Retired Persons and more than 40 physicians' and patients' groups in opposing this provision. Tell Congress to reject this last minute attempt by the insurance industry to end-run the August 1999 deadline for new privacy rules. Our action alert with talking points and a FREE FAX you can send to Congress opposing this bill are on the ACLU website at: http://www.aclu.org/action/medprivacyganske106.html 3. Drivers' Information Alarmed by recent stories of the misuse of drivers' information, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) included privacy protection language in this year's federal transportation spending legislation (S. 1143). Section 339 of the bill would return to drivers control over the personal information they disclose to get a driver's license. It would prohibit the federal government from giving highway money to states that peddle drivers' images and personal information without the consent of the driver. Law enforcement agencies would be exempt from the provision. Shelby's initiative has prompted an intense lobbying campaign by the Direct Marketing Association, which wants the language seriously weakened or removed entirely. The Shelby measure can be preserved only through an equally intense wave of public protest, raising the visibility of this issue among Senators who may soon be voting on the bill. TAKE ACTION! Our action alert and letter to congress can be found on the website at: http://www.aclu.org/action/drivers106.html --- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
