A recent report by Freedom Works discussed one of the newest privacy threats we should know about. Congress has sketched a new proposal that would require all merchants’ payment systems to be tracked, recorded, and reported to the federal government.

This legislation will affect any credit card transaction made. Businesses will be required to give up that information once they swipe a card. The hopes of Internet privacy or being able to surf anonymously may be nonexistent if you use Amazon, PayPal, or any other online merchant. The online vendors are also required to divulge the information and report transactions to the government.

Many questions are raised throughout this article such as:

• What is the federal government’s purpose with this kind of detailed data?
• How will this database be secured, and who will have access?
• Many small proprietors use their Social Security number as their tax ID. How will their privacy be protected?
• What compliance costs will this impose on businesses?

These important questions need to be answered before the legislation continues. With the rise of ID Theft and American citizens’ worries about government spying, this legislation seems to completely forgo privacy protection.

Tweet This Post

Remember when you were younger and wanted x-ray glasses? Well now all you have to do is get a job with the Transportation Security Administration. This recent article from The Dallas Morning News (dallasnews.com) reports on the newest invasion of privacy when traveling.

The TSA is using a new scanning method which has many people baffled and shocked. The new millimeter wave whole body image device shows what’s going on under a traveler’s clothes. The TSA argues that this will speed up the screening process…at the expense of someone seeing a 3-D image of what is under your clothes. This will increase security measures since only metal objects are detected via a magnetometer.

Privacy advocates are saying that these images are too revealing. This is the equivalent of being strip searched. The TSA and privacy advocates do not agree on the potential uses for this. Ultimately privacy advocates are saying, “American passengers should not have to parade naked in front of security screeners in order to board the plane.”

The TSA has a modesty filter on the machines so that images are not too revealing…how does this help either way? So if I am hiding something it can potentially be blurred…but if I’m not then, I still have a machine basically taking naked photos of me. The screening is completely optional…but the TSA doesn’t promote that fact. A passenger can skip the screening and be patted down by security. People are being put through this screening process without even being made aware that it is happening. Is it their fault for not questioning airport security? I would say no…it is the TSA’s fault for not letting passengers know what they are being subjected to.

Tweet This Post

With today’s continuation of MSNBC’s Privacy Lost, the focus is on the vast difference in privacy rights and laws between the United States and the European Union.

A few examples of the difference in European privacy laws vs U.S. privacy laws include:

• Personal information can’t be collected without permission, and the person has a chance to review their information to make sure it is accurate and up to date
• Companies that process data must be registered with the government
• Employee e-mails cannot be read by employers
• Personal information cannot be shared across borders or companies without permission
• Salespeople at stores can’t ask for a shopper’s phone number

Europeans tend to trust their government more, even though many of these limitations do not apply to them. According to the article, the Netherlands is 130 times more likely to use wiretapping than the U.S. The major different is that the E.U. places many privacy restrictions on the “evil” corporations, while the U.S. lacks trust in their government.

The article continues to point out the significance that privacy laws (well actually the lack of privacy laws in this case) played during the Holocaust when church records were used to persecute Jews. Some theories exist that date the privacy issues back even further in history. The article then continues to point out some recent examples of how the differences in privacy laws became major issues. Europeans choose to use the government, which is there to protect them, when wrongdoings occur…Americans, on the other hand, use the private sector to resolve issues.

The article displays a very useful chart to show the differences between the U.S. and E.U. in various issues including: right to privacy, government snooping, and consumer data collection. From what I see, Americans tend to view privacy as a personal matter that they have a right to defend on their own terms. In contrast, Europeans seem to see privacy as a matter of government and will use that avenue as opposed to actively pursuing ways to protect their privacy. Americans make privacy happen, while Europeans expect it to be there.

While I won’t say that one trumps the other, both the U.S. and the E.U. make valid points to their cause. My reoccuring thought while reading this article was how do two vastly different systems work so well, respectively? Speaking from a U.S. point of view, while many privacy issues exist, I know I can still be protected. It is a difficult subject to approach. Ultimately, both systems are working in their respective ways.

Tweet This Post