Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!spool2.mu.edu!sdd.hp.com!hp-pcd!hp-vcd!johne
From: johne@hp-vcd.HP.COM (John Eaton)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: What is private information?
Message-ID: <6750004@hp-vcd.HP.COM>
Date: 14 Jan 91 16:48:20 GMT
References: <1990Dec25.062336.16836@looking.on.ca>
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Vancouver, WA
Lines: 33

<<<
<  And they are using first class propaganda and are
< playing on peoples' greed in order to entice the people into voluntarily
< (in some cases at least) submitting to this travesty.  By the time the
< average joe realizes what has been done to him, it is too late; the
----------
One plan that I have heard of is a store "coupon card". You give them
your ID card at checkout and you receive credit for all manufactor
coupon discounts that are applicable at that time. Apparently with
the handling costs and fraud it is cheaper for them to do this than
to handle individual coupons. It also produces an record of your
individual purchases.

Computers in the checkout line can create many unexpected problems
for the unwary public. These problems should be addressed beforehand
rather than waiting for disaster to strike. If we wait it will be
to late.

When the phone company installed automatic switches they did not
consider some the potential problems that would occur. You could
now use the phone for obscene or threatening calls that could
not be made through a live operator. If this had been considered
then some means could have been incorporated into the switch to
prevent it. For example if a called phone remains off-hook for
30 seconds after the calling phone hangs up the switch could
print a log of both numbers before clearing the line. You then
call the phone company and they can look up the offending 
number. But people didn't realize the problem until it was
to late so little was done.


John Eaton
!hpvcfs1!johne