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Politech is the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994 by Declan McCullagh, the mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of culture, technology, politics, and law. Since 2000, so has the Politech web site.
[In this Washington Post article, we see some longtime politechnicals from EFF and Junkbusters criticizing the effort by firms to create a Customer Profile Exchange standard. I assume -- though it is just an assumption -- they would applaud Shelby's letter to the FTC below asking the agency to review the proposed standard. Now, the intentions of privacy advocates may be laudable (and I consider myself one as well) but I'm also a technologist. And putting often-clueless and frequently-unaccountable bureaucrats in the position of reviewing technical standards seems to me to be a first step on a very dangerous path. --Declan] ********** The Washington Post article yesterday that drew Shelby's ire: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23676-2000Dec4.html By Robert O'Harrow Jr. Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 5, 2000; Page E01 Several dozen e-commerce specialists are creating a system designed to vastly improve their ability to share names, identification numbers and a wealth of behavioral data about individual consumers, a prospect that raises new questions about the security and privacy of personal information. [...] ********** December 5, 2000 Mr. Robert Pitofsky, Chairman Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington D.C. 20580 Dear Chairman Pitofsky: I am writing to express my concerns regarding the consumer privacy implications related to the development of the Customer Profile Exchange standard. The efforts to develop this new standard were brought to my attention by an article which ran in the Business Section of the Washington Post on December 5, 2000. I have attached a copy of this article for your review. It is my understanding from the article that the exchange standard was developed for the purpose of simplifying the process of storing and transferring information. It would provide a uniform system through which businesses would gather and transmit individual consumer data including: addresses, taxpayer identification numbers, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, income level, marital status, among other items. While this effort is intended to enhance commercial activity, I am troubled that insufficient attention has been given to the negative ramifications that the use of this exchange will have on the privacy of American consumers. When this standard is put in practice, the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans will be readily and widely available. Therefore, in light of the significance of this new form of exchange, I respectfully request that the Federal Trade Commission review the development of this standard and closely consider its impact on the privacy of the American people prior to its being put in operation. Thank you for your time and consideration of my request. Sincerely, Richard C. Shelby ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------