Congressional Negligence On Privacy Issues
The U.S. Congress, after half a century of gross negligence in responding to threats against personal privacy brought about by technological and societal change, is suddenly scrambling to do something in response to recent high-profile news reports of "data breach" by irresponsible U.S. corporations.
As one might expect, Congress's response thus far to this incredibly serious threat has been mostly rhetorical, primarily aimed at creating high-profile news reports showing that Congress is on the job (albeit, fifty years late). Several bills have been proposed and discussed, talking heads on both side have begun talking, and individual Congressmen and women are tripping over each other to reach the microphone first and be seen as proactive on this issue, much like middle-class housewives trampling each other at a Wal-Mart to purchase a limited supply of beanie babies the week before Christmas.
But despite all the hullabaloo, no bills have been passed, and the bills proposed thus far are certified, Grade-A political manure that lack not only foresight, but any meaningful comprehension of the problem, let alone any clue how to deal with the problem of personal data loss and identity theft.
What incited all this activity on Capitol Hill was not the efforts of many people like myself to expose the American Debtors Prison, identity theft, and the unparalleled threats to individual liberty and autonomy that credit bureaus and other information brokers have created for their own personal profit at the expense of everyone else. No, what incited this activity was a flury of media reports about "data breach" by, apparently, one irresponsible U.S. corporation after another over the past several months.
"Data Breach" is the benign euphemism that politicians and "experts" use for a phenomenon that has potentially cataclysmic consequences for ordinary people like you and me. It means that someone, or some corporation, somewhere, has been gathering personal information about U.S. citizens, and that information has been lost or stolen. And all the news reports in recent months concern only those instances of data loss and theft that companies have bothered to report--there is no federal law requiring that a company disclose the loss of your social security number, birth date, bank account number, sexual orientation, or any other piece of data on you they have manage to scavenge. It doesn't matter that the third-party who "breached data" might use this information to steal your identity and throw you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt, if they are nice, or use this information to utterly destroy your life forever, if they are mean. The federal government does not require incompetent companies to tell you when they lose your private information.
However, so far twenty one states have passed laws requiring companies to reveal "data breach", and this is probably the only reason it has been in the news so much lately. If the states had not passed these laws, what corporate executive has the courage and character to confess to the world that their negligence has put thousands or millions of their fellow citizens at risk of catastrophic identity theft or worse?
At this point, it appears that the U.S. Congress is primarily seeking to jump on the states' bandwagon and pass a law requiring negligent data brokers to make it public whenever they lose people's personal information. And get this--one of the main arguments against such a law is concern that citizens will become numb to the situation when they receive perhaps dozens of notifications of "data breach" each month.
Yes, you read that correctly--Congress is making no apparent effort to actually prevent wholesale data loss and theft, but instead it fully expects this to happen on a regular basis, and merely wants to ensure that Congress is given credit when data brokers are forced by law to repeatedly disclose their negligence.
I could name names in Congress who have been vocal on this issue, and quote quotes from talking head "experts" who actually believe there is something to debate here. But what's the point? In the half century since the invention of the modern credit card (and hence, modern credit bureaus), Congress still has not developed the slightest comprehension of how serious this problem is. Is it any wonder that Congress remains unaware of, and unconcerned by, the existence of the American Debtors Prison?
Members of Congress are guilty of gross negligence that FAR exceeds any genuine mistakes or errors or judgement that have led so many people into the American Debtors Prison. And the situation will never change until The People take a stand, organize a movement against the American Debtors Prison (and the information systems upon which it is founded), and vow on their sacred honor to vote on the sole basis of candidates' demonstrated position on matters that are crucial to each U.S. citizen's financial security. For in a capitalist society, where net worth is equivalent to opportunity, it is impossible for citizens to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not to mention freedom and democracy), when they are not in full control of their personal finances.
If you are interested in joining such a movement, please visit my website.
All the best,
Paul
As one might expect, Congress's response thus far to this incredibly serious threat has been mostly rhetorical, primarily aimed at creating high-profile news reports showing that Congress is on the job (albeit, fifty years late). Several bills have been proposed and discussed, talking heads on both side have begun talking, and individual Congressmen and women are tripping over each other to reach the microphone first and be seen as proactive on this issue, much like middle-class housewives trampling each other at a Wal-Mart to purchase a limited supply of beanie babies the week before Christmas.
But despite all the hullabaloo, no bills have been passed, and the bills proposed thus far are certified, Grade-A political manure that lack not only foresight, but any meaningful comprehension of the problem, let alone any clue how to deal with the problem of personal data loss and identity theft.
What incited all this activity on Capitol Hill was not the efforts of many people like myself to expose the American Debtors Prison, identity theft, and the unparalleled threats to individual liberty and autonomy that credit bureaus and other information brokers have created for their own personal profit at the expense of everyone else. No, what incited this activity was a flury of media reports about "data breach" by, apparently, one irresponsible U.S. corporation after another over the past several months.
"Data Breach" is the benign euphemism that politicians and "experts" use for a phenomenon that has potentially cataclysmic consequences for ordinary people like you and me. It means that someone, or some corporation, somewhere, has been gathering personal information about U.S. citizens, and that information has been lost or stolen. And all the news reports in recent months concern only those instances of data loss and theft that companies have bothered to report--there is no federal law requiring that a company disclose the loss of your social security number, birth date, bank account number, sexual orientation, or any other piece of data on you they have manage to scavenge. It doesn't matter that the third-party who "breached data" might use this information to steal your identity and throw you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt, if they are nice, or use this information to utterly destroy your life forever, if they are mean. The federal government does not require incompetent companies to tell you when they lose your private information.
However, so far twenty one states have passed laws requiring companies to reveal "data breach", and this is probably the only reason it has been in the news so much lately. If the states had not passed these laws, what corporate executive has the courage and character to confess to the world that their negligence has put thousands or millions of their fellow citizens at risk of catastrophic identity theft or worse?
At this point, it appears that the U.S. Congress is primarily seeking to jump on the states' bandwagon and pass a law requiring negligent data brokers to make it public whenever they lose people's personal information. And get this--one of the main arguments against such a law is concern that citizens will become numb to the situation when they receive perhaps dozens of notifications of "data breach" each month.
Yes, you read that correctly--Congress is making no apparent effort to actually prevent wholesale data loss and theft, but instead it fully expects this to happen on a regular basis, and merely wants to ensure that Congress is given credit when data brokers are forced by law to repeatedly disclose their negligence.
I could name names in Congress who have been vocal on this issue, and quote quotes from talking head "experts" who actually believe there is something to debate here. But what's the point? In the half century since the invention of the modern credit card (and hence, modern credit bureaus), Congress still has not developed the slightest comprehension of how serious this problem is. Is it any wonder that Congress remains unaware of, and unconcerned by, the existence of the American Debtors Prison?
Members of Congress are guilty of gross negligence that FAR exceeds any genuine mistakes or errors or judgement that have led so many people into the American Debtors Prison. And the situation will never change until The People take a stand, organize a movement against the American Debtors Prison (and the information systems upon which it is founded), and vow on their sacred honor to vote on the sole basis of candidates' demonstrated position on matters that are crucial to each U.S. citizen's financial security. For in a capitalist society, where net worth is equivalent to opportunity, it is impossible for citizens to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not to mention freedom and democracy), when they are not in full control of their personal finances.
If you are interested in joining such a movement, please visit my website.
All the best,
Paul
posted by Paul at 1:07 AM
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