Loss of Privacy

A surveillance program authorized by the Bush administration to allow the National Security Agency to spy on the internet activities of federal employees is now being expanded. The Obama administration is planning to expand the Einstein internet surveillance software.

If you’ve ever wanted to know just what is out there in the numerous databases, The Consumerist has a detailed list so that you can perform a complete background check on yourself.

Now you can know what Big Brother knows about you and get access to the same dirt everyone from your boss, landlord, insurance agent, to your favorite casino has on you. Here is a comprehenisve list of websites and phone numbers for most of the “specialty” consumer reports, like your employment, rental, and check writing history. Be sure to check them out and correct any errors, before a crisis hits.

Unfortunately, many of the places on the list are also not free.

When looking at the list that The Consumerist has compiled, it’s a little scary and nerve-wrecking to know that ChoicePoint is on that list. They were caught selling information to criminal organizations in the past, which doesn’t leave me thinking my data is very secure.

LexisNexus won’t let you opt-out unless you are lucky enough to be a politician, work in law enforcement, have filed an identity theft crime report or have a restraining order on file somewhere. Those of us that are not luck cannot stop them from spying on us.

Having a database of prescription drug purchase history also seems like some sort of privacy violation as well. Ingenix is part of UnitedHealth Group. UnitedHealth Group owns UnitedHealthcare, the second-largest insurer in the nation. The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) is also very scary.

It is also likely that many of these companies buy and sell their information amongst one another. There is also far more detail about you in these databases than you could ever dream of and there’s no way to opt out and very difficult to protect your own information.

From ABCNews:

Web users are becoming increasinly aware that companies are secretly gathering and selling the information they post on social sites like Facebook and Twitter. But now, banks may also be judging them based on their social network profile.

For the first time, banks can look pretty deeply into your private life by looking at your Facebook or other social media page and they may even consider your network of friends. The question is, “Will banks use your online persona to decide whether to give you credit?”

One of five case studies used to justify the United Kingdom’s DNA retention law was completely fake. The database currently holds the DNA of people, even if they are innocent. The fake case was copied from another case with the name of the individual changed. Officials claim it is just a regrettable administrative error. It is really gross incompetence and an attempt to deceive the public.

Large amounts of personal data belonging to British citizens is accessible from more than 500,000 computer terminals across Europe.

The figure was revealed in a Council of the European Union document examining proposals to establish a new agency, based in France, that would manage much of the 27 EU member states’ shared data. But the sheer number of access points to the Schengen Information System (SIS) – which holds information regarding immigration status, arrest ­warrants, entries on the police national ­computer and a multitude of personal details – has triggered concerns about the security of the data.

Statewatch, a group that monitors civil liberties in Europe, said it was aware of a case in Belgium where personal information extracted from the system by an official was sold to an organised criminal gang.

The rapid expansion of the EU has played a significant part in increasing the size of the network. In 2003, there were 125,000 computer terminals across the EU with access to the system, according to official documents. But following EU enlargement, the number of computer terminals with access to the system increased dramatically.

According to the Council of the European Union “Inter-institutional File”, “the SIS is built around a central database that is networked, via national systems, to more than half a million terminals located within the security services of the member states”. The file goes on to explain that the system “currently contains more than 30m alerts [for wanted persons, stolen vehicles and stolen or lost identity papers and documents]“. While the SIS is credited by its supporters with helping to track wanted criminals and illegal immigrants, there are concerns that the personal data it holds could be invaluable for fraudsters.

There is no way to make data perfectly secure and, by allowing so many access points, the British are right to worry about whose hands this information will wind up in.