Kim...thanks for sharing this with the list! Sheridan Kim Collins wrote: > > PRIVACY CONCERNS SPUR POLICY CHANGE > BY DION NISSENBAUM > Mercury News Sacramento Bureau > > SACRAMENTO -- One of the nation's largest online genealogy companies decided > Thursday to remove from its Web site personal information about people born > in California -- but only for people who ask. > > The company, RootsWeb. com, took the action after it was thrown into the > spotlight Wednesday by California lawmakers who demonstrated how easy it is > to use the Web site to glean critical information, such as date of birth and > mother's maiden name, that can serve as building blocks for identity theft. > > The move, announced late in the day, may satisfy some of the many > Californians who called the company Thursday to complain about the > availability of the personal information. But it is unlikely to quell the > broader concerns because experience suggests that only a relatively small > number of people will take the initiative to request that RootsWeb.com > delete their data. > > And even if the company removed all 24 million California birth records > posted on its site, that would not address the fundamental problem still > facing lawmakers: Selling the information was -- and is -- legal. > > The state of California sells both birth and death records of millions of > residents and makes them available on CD-ROM for as much as $900. Along with > the birth records, RootsWeb.com also contains a database that lists more > than 9 million death records in California. Many of the listings include a > Social Security number, the most prized piece of information for identity > thieves. > > ``Clearly this is a situation where all the residents of California have now > been exposed to a new risk of identity theft,'' said Chris Hoofnagle, legal > counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C. > ``This should raise alarms.'' > > After reading about RootsWeb.com in the Mercury News, concerned Californians > contacted the company and asked to have their personal information taken > offline. Initially, some were rebuffed and told the data was public > information. > > But after an executive meeting Thursday, company officials decided to remove > the names of any Californians who ask. > > ``The mission of our company is to create places to help people reconnect > with their families,'' said Craig Sherman, the chief marketing and revenue > officer of MyFamily.com Inc., the parent company of RootsWeb.com. ``We're > not in any way doing anything except helping our customers and if a customer > is concerned about it, it doesn't do any good to leave them up on the > site.'' > > Sharon O'Mara Hartman, who works for a Bay Area branding firm, was among > those who asked the company to remove her name. > > ``Anything that has personal information on it is infringing on my > privacy,'' she said. ``Coming across something like this was disturbing.'' > > MyFamily.com is one of the largest and oldest genealogy sites on the > Internet and gets more than 5 million visitors a month. > > One other state, Texas, has provided similar information to RootsWeb. > > Privacy and identity theft have new meaning in the wake of the Sept. 11 > attacks. All 19 men suspected of taking part in the deadly hijackings had > Social Security numbers and only five were obtained legally. Some got fake > IDs in Florida and Virginia. > > Earlier this month, Congress renewed a debate about the federal government's > sale of a massive database of deaths in America. The information includes > names, addresses, dates of birth, dates of death and Social Security > numbers. > > California has made birth and death records available on CD-ROM for about > two years. It is one of the few states in the nation to make birth > certificates available to anyone who asks. > > Now, state lawmakers are taking another look at whether to place tighter > constraints on release of such information. > > State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, said she plans to introduce > legislation in the coming months to restrict access to state birth records. > > But some are concerned that the state may be moving to fix a problem that > doesn't really exist. > > Terry Francke, general counsel of the California First Amendment Coalition, > said people should be wary of too many restrictions on public information > unless there is strong evidence that the Web site has been used in a crime. > > ``If we're going to start stripping not only the Internet, but public > records, of information that others have found useful for generations on the > basis that it might make some mischief or crime easier, then we're going to > have a very different society before we realize it,'' he said. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---- > Contact Dion Nissenbaum at dnissenbaum@sjmercury.com or (916) 441-4603. > > Kim > > http://www.arbuckleonline.com/users/2buckets > > ==== OKJEFFER Mailing List ==== > Please visit the Jefferson Co. 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