OT medical (and other) privacy.

[Guest guest]

I used to make fun of my conspiracy-oriented

friend who claims that " they " will make us all wear implanted chips pretty soon.

 

It is starting to sound less like Sci Fi by the day.

 

One of my health newsletters comes from

Dr. Jonathan V. Wright.

He had this to say on the topic:

 

Dear Reader,

 

When I read about the FDA approval for the medical chip

implant (see e-Tip 12/20/04), I thought I'd seen it all.

Apparently not.

 

In yet another even more dangerous and threatening strike against personal

freedom, Congress is sneaking legislation into the newly ratified Intelligence

Bill that would mandate all U.S. citizens and residents to carry a national ID

card.

This could become a reality in as little as three years.

 

In case this sounds harmless to you, let me tell you why I think you should be

concerned.

 

National ID cards are not a new phenomenon. Oppressive regimes such as Hitler's

Germany and the communist Soviet Union have used them for years as a way to

monitor and track the movements of its citizenry for undeniably heinous

purposes. In today's high tech, high security, high paranoia environment,

egregious breaches of privacy seem inevitable.

 

Here are the three characteristics of such a card, according to Amilai Etzioni,

author of " The Limits of Privacy " : 1) All

citizens or residents must have one, 2) They must carry it and

present it on request of any authority -- regardless of whether

any crime has been committed or regulation violated, and 3)

The card must be linked to a database that would contain

other information about the person.

 

Don't think, even for a minute, that your health information

won't make its way onto that database. And when it does,

can't you just imagine the many people who will step up and

demand access to private information of all types? Police

officers will " need " to know if someone is HIV positive in

order to " protect. " Airlines will want the right to not sell

tickets to overweight passengers for safety reasons.

Employers won't want to hire people with ADD. Granted,

these are all just conjectures.but how far off are they,

really?

 

What if the Feds decide that Medicare or some kind of

national health plan should also be administered through this

" handy " system, leaving all your health information out there

for anyone to look up at the swipe of a card.

 

Or how about the nightmare of fraud? It's bad enough when

someone steals your credit card: Can you imagine how one

smart criminal could wreck your entire life if they tamper

with your national identification?

 

Since 9/11 the heat has been turned up and the pot is almost

to a boil on developing these cards. Larry Ellison, founder

and CEO of Oracle, is at the front of the line for the

Capitalist of the Century Award for his generous -- and

transparent -- offer to " donate " the national database software

to the government.in exchange for the rights to charge for

regular maintenance and infinite rounds of upgrades. I guess

you can't blame a guy for trying. But I personally don't

intend to forfeit my personal freedom to line Larry Ellison's

pockets.

 

Privacy isn't just for people who have something to hide.

Privacy is one of the rights we are supposed to enjoy when

we live in a free and democratic society. Before it's too late, I

want to urge you to take whatever actions you can, and resist,

resist, resist. Write letters to your representatives and let them

know you are against national ID cards. Write a Letter to the

Editor of your local newspaper.

 

Your great-great-grandchildren will thank you one day.

 

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