Part two of a two part series.

Happy Birthday to the United States of America.

Happy Birthday to the United States Declaration of Independence.

Let us remember too, on this day, the 180th anniversary of the deaths of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

And let’s not forget to say Happy Birthday to the Freedom of Information Act. Enacted 40 years ago on this notable date on which we celebrate our freedoms to speak, drink, and cook hot dogs, The FOIA is designed to open up the U.S. government to scrutiny by the people.

Monday, in a Washington Post Editorial, President Jimmy Carter called for the expansion of the FOIA to encompass all three branches of the federal government (only the Executive Branch is presently subject to FOIA requests) and a sweeping improvement in responsiveness to requests. (OpenTheGovernment.Org has, this week, released a report rating responsiveness improvements made by agencies as per a Presidential mandate from December, 2005. Not suprisingly, they seem to be unimpressed.)

I’m not going to go on much about this because President Carter does a fine job but, I’ll say that I heartily agree. Remember, as you eat your dogs and burgers and watch highly dangerous explosives light up your night sky, your freedoms do not stem from someone monitoring your bank records or listening in on your phone calls. Your freedom stems from the vigilance of individuals who stood up when their government no longer represented the interests of the public at large.

So, now, I’ll leave you with the immortal words of The JB’s,

I’m paying taxes,
So, what am I buying?

Part one of a two part series.

I was reading my Sunday paper yesterday (on the day it arrived- a triumph of slackdom over obligation) and I noticed a blurb mentioning a new Virginia law that took effect on July 1. The law requires all of Virginia’s public and private universities and colleges to submit names and social security numbers of their students to the state police so that they can be checked aginst sex offender registries. [Wash. Post 06-06-20] While I understand the basis for the provision- keep the sexual predators out of the dorms-it opens up doors to wide ranges of abuse and general failures in personal privacy.

Even if the state uses the information only as intended and makes an effort to purge the data in a regular cycle, the increasing rate of data theft raises serious flags. Whose credit is riper for the picking than a college student, fresh out of high school with the new credit card mom and dad co-signed for so he/she could establish credit (read: debt) and learn responsibility (read: buy kegs)?

The good news, as pointed out by Mike Stollenwerk, Chairman of the Fairfax County [Virginia] Privacy Council (Yes, the FCPC website is laughable, but Mr. Stollenwerk is no stranger to this sort of case), is that the Federal Privacy Act of 1974 applies:

DISCLOSURE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

Section 7 of Pub. L. 93-579 provided that:
‘(a)(1) It shall be unlawful for any Federal, State or local
government agency to deny to any individual any right,
benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such
individual’s refusal to disclose his social security account
number.
‘(2) the (The) provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection
shall not apply with respect to –
‘(A) any disclosure which is required by Federal statute, or
‘(B) the disclosure of a social security number to any Federal,
State, or local agency maintaining a system of records in
existence and operating before January 1, 1975, if such
disclosure was required under statute or regulation adopted
prior to such date to verify the identity of an individual.
‘(b) Any Federal, State, or local government agency which
requests an individual to disclose his social security account
number shall inform that individual whether that disclosure is
mandatory or voluntary, by what statutory or other authority
such number is solicited, and what uses will be made of it.’

What this means is that, apart from federal laws which cite themselves as exceptions (one such provision was written to allow Motor Vehicle Departments to use SSN’s, the IRS is another exception,) no agency or organization may require your Social Security Number in order to transact business or provide services. It also states that if they do ask for your SSN, they need to make it clear that it’s use is either mandatory or voluntary and why. Colleges and universities in Virginia do not operate under any federal mandate to track Social Security Numbers. Applicants should be made aware that they do not have to submit their number and they should opt against.

More tomorrow before I fire up the grill.