Saturday, March 12, 2005

Patrick Leahy and privacy

Senator predicts 'overdue' changes to privacy | CNET News.com
WASHINGTON--Recent data mishaps at ChoicePoint and Reed Elsevier Group's LexisNexis service could usher in a dramatic reshaping of privacy laws, a U.S. senator predicted.

Vermont's Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary committee, said Wednesday evening that a recent slew of data thefts and other leaks requires a 'comprehensive rethinking' of the laws regulating companies that compile electronic dossiers on Americans that are typically purchased by creditors, employers or police.
Howard Dean. Patrick Leahy. I want to live in Vermont.

If Paul Wellstone had not died in a plane crash prior the 2002 senate race, then Norm Coleman wouldn't be Minnesota's (wretched, awful) senator and Patrick Leahy might chair the judiciary committee. Then we'd be a happier and healthier nation.

The one bright spot is that there's always been a fair interest in privacy in conservative America. Of course this interest was stronger when Clinton was president, but it's not entirely gone. I'm not optimistic however. There just hasn't been much real outrage about the Lexis/Nexis and ChoicePoint security breaches, or the flaws in the ChoicePoint profiles. As far as I can tell, the American people don't really care.

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