Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!emory!gatech!mcnc!uvaarpa!murdoch!astsun7.astro.Virginia.EDU!gl8f From: gl8f@astsun7.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Lotus Marketplace Message-ID: <1990Nov21.035243.15799@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> Date: 21 Nov 90 03:52:43 GMT References: <1990Nov19.000849.23021@math.lsa.umich.edu> <1990Nov19.062344.2222@looking.on.ca> Sender: news@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU Organization: Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia Lines: 40 In article <1990Nov19.062344.2222@looking.on.ca> brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) writes: >I think John is right. We can't pass laws telling people what they can >store. > >We might be able to get away with regulating what people can do with data >they have, but I am wary of how such laws will be written. Let's say the phone company decided to sell copies of your phone bill. Let's say your credit card company decided to sell copies of transactions on your cards. Let's say your grocery store decided to sell copies of what you bought. Ooh, he's a vegetarian, except he bought 2 cans of tuna last year. Naughty naughty. Let's say your video rental store decided to tell everyone you rented "Bustful Beach Bimbos From Another Planet" -- right after you were nominated to the US Supreme Court. Where did Lotus get the information that they're selling? I certainly have never explicitly agreed that I wanted my address in there. If Radio Shack forces me to give my address because I use a credit card to buy something from them, I don't want them selling that info. In a "free market" society I'd be able to choose stores that promised to not be jerks. In reality, all big businesses seem to not care about privacy issues. I can't even convince the University of Virginia to stop advertising my social security number to just about the entire planet. So what if I consider it confidential, and it can be used for credit card fraud? If it's used that way I'll never be able to prove where the thief got it. I'm not saying that it's easy to pass laws about this. But I am saying that a rather simple change of attitude -- "the customer has to agree before we can sell their name" -- will go a long way towards solving the problem.