This here proves that "terrorism" is nothing but a bogus canard!
If this government was really interested in protecting us, THIS wouldn't happen:
"Government websites yield personal data; Privacy advocates say threat of theft is widespread" by Bill Brubaker, Washington Post | January 2, 2008
WASHINGTON - Colin L. Powell's Social Security number is out there. So is Troy Aikman's.
The number for Maryland's Attorney General Douglas Gansler is xxx-xx-xx34.
In an era when government officials from President Bush to local sheriffs warn of the growing dangers of identity theft, the full Social Security numbers of untold numbers of Americans can be found in file rooms and on websites run by governments.
Gansler, after learning that his number had been posted on a Maryland government records site:
"This is very dangerous. You know, a Social Security number is really the fingerprint to somebody's identification."
I don't know anyone who would want my identity.
You want all that baggage?
Maybe you could give me your ID in return.
The Federal Trade Commission has estimated that 8.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2005, the most recent data available. But the crown jewel in identity theft - the Social Security number - can be mined easily in the government's own records, creating a measure of social insecurity for millions, according to identity experts.
Meanwhile, the government is worried about non-existent (or self-created) "terrorists."
Social Security numbers are readily available in many courthouses - in land records and criminal and civil case files - as well as on many government websites that offer public documents with a few clicks of the mouse. From state to state, and even within states, there is little uniformity in how access to the private information in these records is controlled.
Pffffffftttt!
A recent spot-check found the nine-digit numbers - introduced in 1936 to track employee earnings and benefits - on hundreds of land deeds, death certificates, traffic tickets, creditors' filings, and other documents related to civil and criminal court cases.
Federal courts have banned the numbers from appearing on public documents since 2001. And in recent years, many jurisdictions have enacted laws or made rules barring various types of personal information from being filed with courts or government agencies. Most court websites in the Washington region list partial Social Security numbers or none at all.
However, millions of paper records were filed across the United States before the laws and rules took effect. Generally, such records are not covered by the prohibitions. And court clerks said it would be virtually impossible to redact all of the Social Security numbers in them.
Wendy Jones, former acting clerk of the Prince William County, Va., Circuit Court:
"That's just plain nutty. I mean, we're talking about hundreds and hundreds of thousands of files in our court alone."
In Loudoun County, Va., General District Court, Social Security numbers were found on documents filed in 38 of the 48 criminal cases heard by a judge on a recent day. The numbers were typed or written on summonses, arrest warrants, criminal complaints, and jail commitment and release orders, among other documents.
Judith Waddell, the court's clerk:
"I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Would you like your Social Security number being disclosed to the public? I know I wouldn't."
A one-hour search of Maryland's land records website found the Social Security numbers of two dozen property owners.
State Senator Jamie Raskin, a Democrat:
"It's alarming, because the government should be setting the example in really trying to protect people's private information. Look, there's a whole criminal underground now that thrives on stealing people's credit cards and usurping their identity for as long as they can."
It's like, when the politicians find out it could be THEIR PRIVACY VIOLATED they are all up in arms!!!!
But when Bush spies on us BEFORE 9/11, that elicits nary a whimper, huh, readers?
A 15-minute search on the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation website found Social Security numbers on statements filed by creditors who had financed purchases.
A dozen more numbers, including former secretary of state Powell's, turned up on a Fairfax County, Va., site that requires a $25 monthly subscription fee.
A Texas records site had the number of Aikman, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback."
