IP: BIG BROTHER-IN-LAW: Edupage, April 13, 2001

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>BIG BROTHER-IN-LAW
>The specter of Big Brother is looming ever larger as federal
>agencies such as the FBI and IRS continue to outsource their
>data-collection projects. The personal data of tens of millions
>of U.S. citizens is vulnerable to FBI agents who can enter a
>special Web page that provides access to personal data culled
>by the private sector. ChoicePoint, Lexis-Nexis, and other
>companies provide these services by rummaging through publicly
>available sources to collect the data. Electronic Privacy
>Information Center lawyer Marc Rotenberg said the government's
>practices amount to a violation of the 1974 Privacy Act. An
>FBI spokesperson denies this charge, noting that the agency's
>data-collection efforts are subjected to "a vigorous inspection
>process." Further, the spokesman pointed out that the data
>collection has helped uncover some 1,300 potential criminals.
>(Wall Street Journal, 13 April 2001)



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