From: <ar2308@columbia.edu>
  To  : <cpc@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
        < Camden Hutchison >
        < owner-cpc@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
  Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 11:20:57 -0500

Re: private versus government data collection

I would say this an oversimplification of things, and more importantly the 
issue is not only the use that the government can make of the all of this 
information but also the misuse and defective protection of the private 
data by private individuals. added to that is the use that others can make 
of the data that readily available for stealing and for which there is not 
penalty under American privacy laws, which only bind the government 
-excerpt maybe for the fair credit reporting act.

So its not really either or, and its not what is worse, its the combined 
effect of it all.

Alex

--On Sunday, February 20, 2005 9:15 AM -0500 Camden Hutchison 
<crh2014@columbia.edu> wrote:

>
> The impression I am getting from reading Robert O’Harrow, Jr.’s book
> is that new data collection technologies raise two distinct social
> issues.  One is that private businesses now have easy access to
> detailed personal information about us.  The other is that the
> federal government increasingly also has access to detailed
> personal information about us.
>
> I am curious as to which of these two issues other students feel is
> the core problem we should be addressing in the class.  My own
> feeling is that government use of our personal information (at
> least when it is being used for national security purposes) is far
> more worrisome than private use of that information.  Like Eben
> said in class, the worst that marketers can do is try to convince
> us to go to Disneyworld.  The government can send men with guns to
> our homes.
>
> -Camden
>
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