gl8f@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) (12/03/90)
There's in interesting case in Illinois, in which Planned Parenthood is challenging a state law requiring parents to provide all sorts of personal information for birth certificates, including social security numbers of both parents. The Washington Post today (12/2) quotes Joan Criswell, president of Planned Parenthood of East-Central Illinois, as saying "This is not public informatin. And once it gets put into a major data bank, you lose all control over the information." Apparently the case is proceeding against both the state and the feds at the same time: the state requires the certificates, while the federal government is requiring the states to collect a smaller set of information for health statistics. (?) Anyway, I haven't seen much from the EFF yet concerning privacy and electronic databases, but perhaps they'd be interested in filing a friend of the court brief concerning SSN disclosure?
josef@nixpbe.nixdorf.de (josef Moellers) (12/04/90)
In <1990Dec2.223620.11428@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> gl8f@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) writes: >There's in interesting case in Illinois, in which Planned Parenthood >is challenging a state law requiring parents to provide all sorts of >personal information for birth certificates, including social security >numbers of both parents. >The Washington Post today (12/2) quotes Joan Criswell, president of >Planned Parenthood of East-Central Illinois, as saying "This is not >public informatin. And once it gets put into a major data bank, you >lose all control over the information." Sorry for someone from way over here to stick my nose into this American issue but from what I see and hear I have the following to add: Here in Germany (and other parts of Europe) we have very stringent laws on registring ("Meldegsetz"): You can't move Your bum lest You report to the local authorities. In the US this is quite contrary: You don't have to report to anyone, You can just vanish into thin air and re-appear somewhere else without anyone knowing who You are and where You come from. Maybe the SSN is one of the ways or the only way of keeping track of a person (who wants to lose his social security?)? -- | Josef Moellers | c/o Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG | | USA: mollers.pad@nixdorf.com | Abt. STO-XS 113 | | !USA: mollers.pad@nixdorf.de | Heinz-Nixdorf-Ring | | Phone: (+49) 5251 104662 | D-4790 Paderborn |