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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.