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THE AMERICAN PRIVACY FOUNDATION
Charter: WHEREAS millions of American citizens are presently having
their privacy violated through electronic, chemical, and
physical techniques, and,
WHEREAS many groups with authority, such as business and
government, are increasingly utilizing these techniques
in the continuing invasion of privacy, and,
WHEREAS these groups are increasingly coercing citizens to
be subjected to these invasions, be denying employment,
loans, benefits, or other required monetary incomes to
those individuals who refuse to be monitored, tested, or
investigated, and,
WHEREAS technological innovations are continuously making
such violations more prevalent, less expensive, and easier
to perform,
WITNESS THAT The American Privacy Foundation is hereby
formed to counter the trends of increasing privacy
violations in the United States of America.
The American Privacy Foundation is opposed to:
1) Collection, by any organization, of information showing
what a citizen purchases on a day-to-day basis.
2) Genetic testing for purposes of determining if a citizen
possesses 'defective' or undesirable genes, and the
subsequent distribution of this information to various
organizations.
3) Drug testing or monitoring by any of the following
techniques; urine, blood, or hair follicle analysis;
skin patches; or electronic devices meant to monitor
legal or illegal substance useage of an individual.
4) Sharing of information between the business community and
government.
5) Compilation of 'medical profiles' by data collection from
various sources, for submission to business or insurance
companies.
6) Any electronic device which is used for tracking the
location of a given individual on a continuous basis.
7) Imbedded electronic devices intended to monitor and enforce
legislation.
8) Any attempt by the government to ban or eliminate cash
currency, or to impose further controls or monitoring of
currency.
1) DAY-TO-DAY TRANSACTION COLLECTION:
a) Concern: A large amount amount of information about
the lifestyle, eating habits, and medical conditions
can be inferred from these records.
b) Example: Several businesses, most notably high-
technology grocery stores, have begun collecting
day-to-day transaction information on individuals.
This is accomplished by enticing a customer into using
a 'Shopping Club'-type card, which indicates the
identity of the purchaser as well as demographic
information. The purchases are recorded against the
customers' name, and a log of purchases can be
compiled.
c) Exceptions: The A.P.F. recognizes the necessity of
business to keep records about credit and payment
history, in order to determine eligibility for the
privilidge of credit.
2) GENETIC TESTING:
a) Concern: In a few short years, many human genes will be
identified. If a person is discriminated against due to
genetic abberations, this person is 'prosecuted before
the fact'.
b) Example: If you are found to have a gene predisposing you
to alcoholism, you could be denied a job, loan, or
insurance, even if you have never touched a drink in your
entire life.
c) Exceptions: A person might request genetic testing for his
own knowledge or for overwhelming medical necessity. If the
test is requested and desired by the person, and if the
information is specifically prohibited from being shared
with any other group, the APF has no objection to this
practice.
3) DRUG TESTING:
a) This patently offensive practice presupposes guilt,
and violates the 5th Amendment to the Constitution by
requiring a person to undertake an action that may be
self-incriminating. A person should be judged on their
performance at work, only. If the person performs well,
then they should be rewarded. If they perform poorly,
they should be removed. What intoxicants are ingested
by a person in their own time is in no way the business
of any company or any government entity.
b) Example: A patch has been developed that would be worn
for up to one month, that is capable of detecting every
drink, every cigarette, every substance ingested during
that period.
c) Exceptions: The APF does not object to standard drug
tests for individuals in certain jobs that put other
individuals at serious physical risk (e.g., jobs in
the transportation industry or in nuclear power plants).
Additionally, if a test is someday developed that tests
present levels of intoxication, much like a Breathalyser
does now, the APF has no objection to use of this test in
any and all employment situations. (An employer, when he
pays for your hours, has the right to expect you to be
sober during those paid hours.)
4) BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT SHARING OF DATA:
The government has an strong need to possess certain
information on individuals (for administration of income
taxes and social security benfits, as an example).
Because of this, they possess powerful informational
tool. If this information is leaked to companies or
individuals, a serious breach of privacy occurs.
Additionally, your geographic location and lifestyle
can be inferred by the records collected by business.
If this information is shared with the government, the
stage is set for serious abuses, all the way up to
Bosnian-style 'Ethnic Cleansing'.
5) COMPILATION OF MEDICAL PROFILES:
A group known as the Medical Information Bureau, from
Boston, Massachusettes, is rapidly becoming the 'TRW'
of the medical community. They draw information from
every source possible, including some that have been
legally challenged as unethical.
There is a legitimate need for credit-reporting companies,
since they provide information allowing a lender to make
intelligent decisions on the granting of something that
is clearly a privilege (the granting of credit).
There is not nearly as much reasonable rational as
credit histories, since this is not an area in which
special privileges are granted. All people have the right
to work SOMEwhere. All people have the right to be granted
medical care. With MIB records, these rights may soon
be denied.
6) LOCATION MONITORING:
There is absolutely no reason why an employer or a
government agency has the right to keep tabs on a
persons' location on a continuous basis (excepting
those individuals on probation or parole).
There is a few businesses who have started using POSILOCK,
a system in which an employee wears a badge that enables the
employer to determine and track physical location of
an employee in its' building throughout the day.
7) ELECTRONIC LAW ENFORCEMENT:
In a few short years, electronic microchips may be imbedded
in a variety of common objects. In fact, recent developments
will allow toll-road users to speed through toll-booths
while an electronic device monitors their travel, and
the tollsystem would automatically deduct amounts from
a 'toll account' paid for by the traveller. In short
order, software could be programmed to note your entry
point, your exit point, and your average speed. If your
average speed exceeded the speed limit, you could ALSO
automatically receive a speeding ticket for your
'transgression'. This concept can be carried to an
extreme - with every object monitoring your every move,
and issuing citations for any transgressions.
8) THE CASHLESS SOCIETY:
The government would truely love to make cash disappear
entirely. If all transactions were electronic, many
wonderous things would occur: Taxes could be collected on
EVERY transaction you make, automatically deducted.
And EVERY monetary transaction could be monitored, and
the government would then know every little thing there
is to know about us. This is perhaps the most insiduous and
most dangerous of the potential dangers, but it is also the
least likely to occur any time soon.