How Not to Stay Neutral on Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality has been an issue of great concern to people who work online. The end of it may likely mean an end to those smaller operations, or new ideas looking for a place to blossom. It has also been of great concern to corporate interests and the Telecomms, who all look to cement their control on what we see and use. It all comes down to how neutral we will see information and services online treated.

FCC after Dark - from College Humor

But the FCC (Federal Trade Commission) is eyeing an end to neutrality. Not surprising from a collective largely made up of former and future executives of the Telecomm Industry. And the head of the FCC thinks it makes perfect sense to end neutrality, but make a caveat that all access must be kept at least at the levels they currently are at.

That would be great if time and technology stood still. But that's the point of the statement from the FCC. Sound good, mean nothing. Throw out a platitude while handing the power, wealth making potential, and speed to their corporate friends.

These Assholes - By College Humor

After that, we are all left to the whims of Internet Service Providers, and to the select online services that have paid up large sums to run suitably. And for many in power, that is how the world should work. You shouldn't have things if you can't pay up a nice size fee for it. Schooling. Water. Knowledge.

Well, that is garbage. The Internet is supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, amusement, and disappointment.


Among those trying to advocate for no neutrality think that not all sites deserve to be treated equal. Money should buy access. The Internet should operate like many other areas of business where the barriers to entry should be high. For many of them, Net Neutrality is a regulation. And that means taxes. And, "The government will control the Internet!!!".

The attitude is that they fear/hate the government, but tolerate/respect the old boy network of corporate elite making decision on this.

I don't, obviously, trust the people at the FCC. We need a better quality of regulator there. But if I have to choose between the power being in the FCC's and the Telecomms grasp, I pick the FCC. Whipping the FCC into shape is easier. And, once industry has it's way with the Internet, we'll have to wait a decade or more to right things.

We rely on regulation by government for a good reason. Industry rarely does a fair to decent job of watching over itself.

National Library Week 2014

Through the 19th, we are celebrating National Library Day.

It's a chance to celebrate, acknowledge, and become aware of what libraries and library workers do for communities.

And I'm glad that we have this celebration of our libraries.

CISPA: Bad law on bad.

In considering CISPA in the last piece I mentioned SOPA, the last iteration of these efforts to broaden government access and control of personal information. It managed to scare and anger many. And with numerous powerful online and tech interest opposed, it was given a lot of unwanted attention that helped lead to its demise in Congress. 

It was overly broad law. It was bad law. It was unpopular law, with the industrial deep pockets elected figures like to please.

So the lesson the lobbyist and Congressional supporters took away from that fight was to make it more palatable to industry. Nothing else really changed. Bad bill language stayed. Broad powers stayed. It just shows an interesting level of cluelessness.

Now, it was politician smart. They don't want to have to get yelled at by the businesses they rely on for fundraising. So it's a no lose fight to their reelection campaigns.

But this cluelessness does have impact. SOPA would have been bad law, like CISPA before it, and now. But other like law are already on the books. Like CFAA, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This law is outdated 80's law against computer hacking (Hey. Remember all those bad 80's hacking movies? It's that old a law.). But it is badly worded and outdated law. This is the law that was used all too recently to hound a rather young and brilliant civil liberties advocate (and vocal opponent of SOPA) Aaron Schwartz for relatively benign activity. But under this law the DA was trying to put him in prison for decades (Because it was the law...kinda.). (And those efforts sadly led to his suicide.) It was punitive action through bad law.

CFAA is exactly an example about why we do need legislation, new legislation, for cybersecurity. Things do need to change. And PIPA, SOPA, and CISPA are examples of why it has to be GOOD law, SOUND law, and INTELLIGENT law; all things these bills are not. We need change, but these laws based more on paranoia and control will not do the job. Our law crafters have to do better.

CISPA is just too vague in how it will be applied, much like CFAA. It will inevitably be used poorly and people will be made to unfairly suffer. And now before it is law is the time to act. Congress needs to do a better job. Looking at CFAA, even many changes suggested for it focus more on increasing punishments and making the violations of the act a more vague and unclear matter. The legislators making the decisions here are not doing a good. job. They have to do better. We have to make them do better, particularly as all the loud voices with the deep pockets are walking away from the fray. It is up to us.

Get informed. Get involved.

I also wanted to note that in passing CISPA through the House of Representatives, even some good Democratic representatives supported it (like Duckworth). The backers of CISPA are spending a lot and schmoozing a lot to ensure it gets supported. This includes overselling it's national security value. So, I think, it would be a good idea to reach out to your representative in Congress (and contact your senators to) and let them know what you think about CISPA and why you don't want it to pass. We to can make them informed voters (in Congress).

It is likely it won't pass the senate. And the president has said he would veto it. But, as I've pointed out, it will be back. And our representatives need to be ready and understand our concerns when it does. They may even, if informed, be able to amend it to be good law. But it starts with us.

What's next? Emergency managers appointed for every pregnancy? *UPDATED 2*

I am creating this post so as to not keep updating the older post on how Republicans continue to cut away at women's access to abortion.

The GOP is eager to fill the map below. And even then this has quickly become outdated.

Source

North Dakota has passed an Personhood Amendment through it's legislature. So it now moves to the ballot in 2014, for people to vote on. So it isn't enforceable yet, but we will see how voters in the state go to the polls. (And, it's another reminder of how much we need people to actually get out and vote next year. This type of law is on ballots all over the country.) Granted, this and North Dakota's other draconian law on fetal heartbeats should never pass judicial muster. But they still pass these laws. Tennessee is also pushing an amendment in 2014. They push and push at the perimeters of people's rights. They see how far they can go and not get push back. Then try and set a standard from which they can push further. 2nd Trimester. 28 Weeks. 12 Weeks. 6 Weeks. Conception. Pushing and pushing the rights of women back.

They have to be made to see the country does not want this dreck. We need to respect the needs of women when they make decisions about their own bodies. To do this we need people in office who will defend rights. And we need to go to the ballots (every time they open) and vote to defend our rights.

Because the GOP is fighting hard to on this. Let's hearken back to Kansas with it's recent additional moves to go after access to abortion. We know the GOP's newest bill is pretty severe. They want to give rights to fertilized eggs. They want to be sure women get no aid. They want doctors to tell women lies about abortion. They are trying to create such hardship.

So, to soften the blow of this bill, Democrats tried to offer up amendments. Amendments like giving some consideration to rape survivors, to be sure they get the services they need and want. But, no. Republicans, almost unanimously, voted to block any compassion in their rather cruel bill.

Kansas, you may also remember, is also one of the states where Republicans pushed in conscious clauses to let pharmacist choose to not sell women birth control. Even birth control is a controversy with Republicans. This is what the GOP wants. This what they want for you. To cut women off from basic medical services and medicines they don't like. And we've been dealing with this for half a century.

But, I also want to acknowledge the Republicans (the few Republicans) who have stood up to these moves. Like the governor of Arkansas before them, they point to the pointless expense of defending these doomed laws. But I am starting to think that's just the excuse and cover they're choosing to make the moral and right decisions. Pity they aren't representing folks who'd respect that stand.

_____________
ADDENDUM:

Kansas ain't done yet!

They are now trying to rush through ANOTHER anti-abortion bill, right as the session is getting ready to close. Like North Dakota, they are racing to pass a fetal heartbeat law, to further limit access to abortion (How many lawsuits do Republicans want to put their states through anyway?). They are giving people  24 hours notice on the public hearing on the bill. They waited and want to race this through, so they can get into line for getting sued. All so, they hope so badly, they can deny women access to a legitimate medical procedure.

This is the stuff the GOP focuses on. This is their priority.


AND MORE:

Washington Post has a nice graphic to show how across the country access to abortion gets denied, by weeks.

Hey ladies? You weren't going to use your rights, right? ^UPDATED 2*

Been wanting to get to this for awhile now. So, as we are in the 40th anniversary year of Roe Vs. Wade, let's see how the rights of women stand.

You may not like the state of reproductive rights.

In three states, access to abortion are all but gone. In North Dakota, South Dakota, and Mississippi, there are solitary facilities for women to, in any way, have an abortion procedure done. Per Roe vs. Wade, it isn't being banned. But conservatives are working on many ways to limit women. Through business pressure, social pressure, threats, and government. In Mississippi, the rules placed on any facility have grown more and more onerous. They've moved from demanding they own extraneous machinery to having closets of a certain size to demanding doctors have privileges at a nearby hospital. And that is the magic one. Because any hospital that doesn't want to be made to suffer is not going to give those privileges  We can only hope the court agrees that these laws are all bullshit.

Arkansas has just made it law that a pregnancy that reaches 20 weeks cannot (barring fine print exceptions) be terminated. The state senate overrode a veto to do this. And this follows on a number of states that have also passed bills into law to also ban abortions at 20 weeks. But it isn't stopping there. The now are working on a Heartbeat Bill. This will push the ban on abortion to the 12 week mark.

North Dakota is working on a bill that will give fertilized eggs legal rights. And as such, you can go after women seeking to abort them. More than this, it means, along with abortion, many forms of birth control and infertility treatment will also become illegal. These conservatives keep trying to pass bills that are loaded down with so many side effects. It is sickening.

Iowa Republicans are thinking a lot like North Dakota and pushing the idea now of redefining murder in the state. It would now include knowingly killing a fertilized egg. What is impressive here is that it is about charging murder. That means women will go to prison.

Indiana is looking at the transvaginal probe idea again. But they don't want to be banal about it. So, they want to force women to be transvaginally probed TWICE. Why? They don't like women. Also, it is worth reminding ourselves that 12 states currently go force women to have mandatory ultrasounds. This problem has not gone away.


South Dakota is placing mandatory new waiting periods on women seeking an abortion. Now they already require 3 days of waiting, along with being ministered to by anti-abortion advocates. But a new law will be declare weekends and any holidays WILL NOT count. So If you begin on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday do not count, and you have to wait over Monday and Tuesday as well. With only one facility in the state, and with it being on the edge of the state. This means a lot of travelling and hotel expenses for women (Not to mention missing work.). But more than that, why doesn't a Saturday or Sunday count as waiting? What's different? It's like having women face a second transvaginal probing. It's meant to trouble and stress women. It's about making women pay for daring to not follow the dictates of conservatives.

And, quite sadly, their is so much more being done to deny women their rights.

Not good news at all. Conservatives across the country are trying to find ways to bypass Roe Vs. Wade. In places like South Dakota, bans on abortion continually fail when put to a vote. So states just try and harass and torment to get what...a conservative zealous minority want. And that is not considering the segment of the US Supreme Court who are eager to tear down 40 year old decision.

This fight keeps going on. They keep pushing us back.

So, just as a reminder, 2014 is coming. Be sure to vote. It matters. And this year, be sure your state legislators and governors are reminded you have a vote and voice, and they don't get to stay in office forever. Get pissed off and get active.

_____________
ADDENDUM:

Hey! Remember how I said Arkansas was looking to bar women from seeking an abortion after 12 weeks? They passed the idea into law. If women don't act fast enough, and leap across every other hurdle the conservatives place to keep women from using their rights, you will be denied.

Welcome to the GOP vision of the future. Discovery of the pregnancy, decision to made, waiting periods, repeated counseling sessions, repeated doctor visits, and limited numbers of doctors available, all to be dealt with in 12 weeks from conception. If only they could force women to train for and run a marathon before they can visit a doctor.

Look forward to this being pushed into law in more states before long.


We can hope Gov. Beebe will veto this law, as he did the 20 week ban. But, as with that, the state senate looks ready to overturn the veto. Still, I hope he stands bu the fact this law is bad for the state, and will drag the state into a losing lawsuit.

_______________
ADDENDUM 2:

What has looked this year like a dash, among conservatives, to bar access to abortion services has turned into an outright speed race. It is only growing more disconcerting. Conservatives have encroached more and more on the rights on women. And following electoral losses, they are charging harder.

So, now, in North Dakota, following their previously mentioned efforts, they are now banning abortions after 6 WEEKS. No typo there. So, if their fetal rights law doesn't work, they are hoping to just make it impossible for women to have the time to get help.

So now women will have to learn they are pregnant, then travel to the ONE clinic in the whole state, which will depend on if they can get the time off work, etc. THEN they will be required to wait one day. So, if it takes you a month to realize a pregnancy, that's 4 of 6 weeks gone. With the time left you have to make your decision and then travel and wait.

It's just unbelievable. No, it isn't, is it?

We know, so many red states are howling at this bill now, conservatives bitterly jealous that they hadn't thought to push this far. So, soon, they will join. Or, they will be trying to ban abortion after 3 weeks, or 1 weeks, or 1 day.

It is what they want. They want a woman going to a hospital the morning after conception to be too late to get assistance. These are constraints that conservatives long have dreamed of placing on women, once again.

They salivate at the idea it could be true again. In so many ways conservatism wishes it was the 1950's.

Trouble with Facebook

I have been tempted at times to try Facebook. But I am not sure how useful it would be for me. And more there are too many stories of security issues. Then there are the issues with how Facebook uses your personal information, or how it changes privacy controls without warning.

Good look at the issue.

Airport body scans

Hey, guess what!

People are abusing the access to the imagery.

Who'da thunk it?

You don't need this computer, right?

I heard about this months ago, and was worried. Hearing about it again makes me all the more perturbed.

PZ Myers:

As someone who takes his laptop everywhere, this is chilling news about the ongoing erosion of our rights:

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

...

Not to worry though. We are told this WILL NOT affect your privacy. And the government, especially this one, telling me that just makes me feel...all the worse.

What is this? They can just take my computer from me? Just for the heck of it? How is this right? How about they do a better job at surveillance, intel work, and law enforcement. And not just set up laws to allow them to randomly grab private property, just in case, or tap every phone, just in case.

Now, most of us are not involved in crime, that we know of. But why are we asked to surrender or personal property like this? At what point does this invasion of privacy not okay? Dogs sniffing, X-raying, open bags, no shoes, where is the line? At what point is too much being asked for us to function comfortably as a society. I was a little weirded when they started check laptop for any substances on them. But I let it slide, as long as I can see the computer and know it is safe, like I do when I place my wallet and bag on the belt.

And now they want to just up and walk off with the laptop, if they feel the need. How long 'til someone takes advantage of this policy for a quick buck?

I am just wondering how this will work in court? If you take someones computer and happen to find something criminally related (fraud, child pornography, illegal downloads, etc.) can it be acted upon, how is it different that grabbing into a persons coat, or bag, and lucking into something illicit. That is supposed to be inadmissible. So how is this going to work.


I went back to the original story at the WP. This is an issue now as the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the policy in April, so people are more aware of it now.

So, this is not new. But it is there to be used, widely. With the Drug War it has a use, with the War on Terror added uses. This ridiculous policy is just so wide open it is just a way to ignore the law on a whim...which defeats the point of drafting LAW! Ahem.

And while it is a not new policy it is getting used more and more. Again, a reason to not leave crap policy in the books to be abused.

Civil liberties and business travel groups have pressed the government to disclose its procedures as an increasing number of international travelers have reported that their laptops, cellphones and other digital devices had been taken -- for months, in at least one case -- and their contents examined.

So if a company is a threat to US business, grab one of their computers. If a political party or group is causing a given White House trouble, take their cellphones or blackberries and go through them. How are Republicans okay with this? Oh, right. They are in power. And civil liberties are not a big deal...yet.

And to close let us not forget how wide this policy is in materials that can be seized.

The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' "

May I remind you the current government is spying on Quakers as a potential threat. How comfortable are you to go to an airport?

Oh? I guess were all dead in 3...2...1...

Crooks and Liars:

...

All the GOP has left is the fear card, and that sucker is wore slam out. Bush’s trusty Supreme Court has already seen fit to throw up a firewall for the telecoms, so why is it the Republicans are still insisting on holding up the FISA bill? It’s because the Republican Party will do anything they can to keep whatever secrets are hidden in those NSA spy rooms from ever incriminating their President, even if it does mean putting our country at more risk to do so. That’s why.

TPM:

...

Remember that yesterday, Republicans made it clear that there will be no negotiating. So either Dems give in and award the telecoms immunity for cooperating with the administration's warrantless wiretapping program, or the Republicans will strive for even better produced efforts at fear-mongering.

Yeah. If things are this dire, why no ability to compromise in any way, shape and form? Can they explain why the retroactive immunity is so pivotal? Will they ever, honestly?

WHY I VOTE PRO CHOICE

WHY I VOTE PRO CHOICE:


BECAUSE...

• IT IS A PERSONAL CHOICE.

• IT IS A MEDICAL CHOICE.

• IT IS A WOMAN'S CHOICE.

and

• I SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO INTERFERE IN THAT CHOICE.

• NO ONE ELSE SHOULD BE ABLE TO EITHER.

Bloggers for Choice

There are a number of great posts for the Annual Bloggers for Choice. It is Blog for Choice Day 2008



For me, with the election year ramping up, I wanted to talk to you about just why it is important to use your vote, and use it wisely. If you believe in Choice, your vote is paramount.

Why politics matter.

It is an obvious thing, but one that strangely gets forgotten in the heat of campaign watching and getting into the horse race. How many times for you heard it? I might just vote for McCain in that case. Or, I might not vote. Or, I will vote Green [etc.]. Have you heard this or read it online? I have.

Now among liberals there are a plethora of opinions and views. But we agree, in large, that women must have the right to make reproductive choices. None of us are wished to sustain senseless wars around the world. We want to be secure, but also free. We work to sustain the environment. We share some important positions.

We agree on so much that is so critical. But then I heard a liberal radio commentator note how they would like McCain and Obama to run together. Or people online declare that if one candidate (Obama, Edwards, Kucinich) does not win, they are out.

How soon do we forget? THE GLOBAL GAG RULE? A MORE and MORE CONSERVATIVE SUPREME COURT? Pushing some extremely conservative judges into positions across the country? Installing some of the worst people into admin and high level government posts where they have spouted lies about sex ed, reproductive issues and other issues, and silenced research and aid to those in need in this country and around the world?

• Gore ran and people went to Nader or stayed home, and we got years of Bush. And we all suffered.
• Kerry ran and people went to Nader or stayed home, and we got more. And we all continued to suffer.
• The hubris of saying any one of the Democrats is worse then sitting the next election out, going to McCain is...See the Bush Years.

All the front runners for the Republicans are planning to attack Roe vs Wade, Romney, Huckabee, and, yes, even John McCain. Eight years has begun a precarious move to the right on the Court, and done huge damage of sex ed and reproductive rights in this nation of ours.

Can any of honestly be that blase about 4 more years?

So I hope we all think about Choice, not just today, but all the way to November.

A story to be thinking about

TPM:

Here's another section from Lawrence Wright's New Yorker piece on Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell that shouldn't be overlooked. Wright reports on McConnell's Cyber-Security Policy, a plan that "will propose restrictions that are certain to be unpopular....

In order for cyberspace to be policed, Internet activity will have to be closely monitored. Ed Giorgio, who is working with McConnell on the plan, said that would mean giving the government the authority to examine the content of any e-mail, file transfer, or Web search. "Google has records that could help in a cyber-investigation," he said. Giorgio warned me, "We have a saying in this business: 'Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.'" (my emphasis)

With the cyber-security initiative, McConnell is asking the country to confront a dilemma: Americans will have to trust the government not to abuse the authority it must have in order to protect our networks, and yet, historically, the government has not proved worthy of that trust. "FISA reform will be a walk in the park compared to this," McConnell said. "This is going to be a goat rope on the Hill. My prediction is that we're going to screw around with this until something horrendous happens."

After Siobhan Gorman of The Baltimore Sun -- now of The Wall Street Journal -- first broke the story of the Cyber-Security Policy in September, the plan seemed relatively close to completion. But then Democrats on the Hill, namely House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), demanded to review it before it was launched. Since then, it hasn't been clear how close it is to completion. Wright reports that it's still in "the draft stage." With the FISA debate far from over, it seems likely that the Cyber-Security plan will remain on hold.

We will have to trust the government with maintaining the facade of privacy, hmm? There are a number of serious network threats, from individuals, groups, and nations. But this quiet and covert move to take this control is troubling.

It's just business

Remember the patriotic move by phone companies to hand over your phone records to the government, to keep us all safe from terrorist?

Seems that civil rights and privacy didn't give many pause. But apparently something eventually did.

AMERICAblog:

Did you get that? The same phone companies who simply HAD to give the feds all of our most private phone information, including calls you made and received, without the necessary court order, are now willing to stop that same surveillance because the feds didn't pay their bills on time. And it resulted in lost evidence...

...

VALUES

• Security over Customer Privacy
• Accounts Not Received over Security

Femme, around the world

Things are a hopping globally.

Following the move in Mexico to allow women reproductive choice is being followed up by others.

New Minister of Health in Brazil calls for debate on abortion.

Mr Temporao says that around 200,000 women are treated for complications following abortions every year, the vast majority of them believed to have taken place in illegal clinics involving a high degree of risk for the women.

So many suffering for others prudish fears.

An opinion poll released at the weekend suggests 65% of Brazilians are against changing the existing law.

Mr Temporao says that result is not surprising as he believes the question has always been debated in a superficial way.

He told the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo he wants Brazil to treat the discussion as a matter of public health.

Yes, a public health issue. Brazil has a severe issue with abandoned children. Kids and gangs on the street are serious problems for this nation. It is darn time for them to address and face this issue. Let them get this debate going.

And from one Portuguese nation to the motherland.

Portugal legalizes abortion!

Yesterday, Portugal's president Anibal Cavaco Silva ratified a law allowing women to obtain abortions until the 10th week of pregnancy.

The abortion law, which the Roman Catholic church in Portugal fiercely opposed, will come into force when the government publishes it in official records, probably next month.

The old law was among the most restrictive in Europe. It allowed the procedure in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy only if a mother's health was at risk; in cases of rape, a termination was permitted up to and including the 16th week. The government hopes the new law will put an end to dangerous illegal abortions.

Women’s health organizations say that approximately 10,000 women in Portugal need to be hospitalized every year with complications from illegal abortions.

From extremely restrictive laws to choice being opened up. Good for them. Smart of them.

News from India:

Civil servants in India required to reveal their menstrual cycles

Female civil servants in India are furious with new government guidelines that force them to list intimate details, including their menstrual history, in appraisal forms, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The All-India Services Performance Appraisal Rules 2007 -- which apply to senior government workers -- ask female employees to record their last menstrual period, as well as when they last took maternity leave, the Hindustan Times said.

That is so wrong.

And this relates to job performance...how? Well, it doesn't. Apparently the head of the personnel department, Satyanand Mishra, was quoted in the Hindustan Times newspaper as saying the questions were based on advice from the Ministry of Health: "We sought the ministry's help to draw up a health-history format. I assume this will help evaluate the officer's fitness." Uh huh. Sure it will.

In Arabia:

Saudi women fighting marital rape.

Women in Saudi Arabia have been filing for divorce because they have been raped and abused by their husbands. As sex is not talked about in the same way, women have a harder time coming out against violence they are facing in their marriages.

...

Marital rape is not recognized by most countries in the world. The article says that UNICEF found in 1997 that only 17 countries actually recognized marital rape. This coupled with the plethora of reasons women are afraid to come out or leave abusive relationships, is only compounded with courts that will not grant permission to divorce.

...

Marital rape is just ignored on too many fronts. For some reason if you have a ring, you ask for it. But to many hold that skirt size, Blood Alcohol level, time of day, make up use, etc also speak to your receptiveness.

Even in marriage, sex is NOT guaranteed. Sorry to ruin the magic.

New burgeoning problems with the national ID

At Feministing, they are considering new dangers that may, and probably will, arise from the implmentation of a national ID in the United States.

...the REAL ID Act of 2005, which establishes a national database of personal data based on state drivers license and ID records, could put domestic violence victims in harm's way.

...

REAL ID "would create a national database with the personal data of 245 million license and state ID cardholders, yet there is still no plan for adequate privacy and security safeguards."

From the ACSBlog:

The REAL ID Act threatens Maryland’s address confidentiality program, and this threat has the potential to harm Maryland’s domestic violence victims. The Maryland Safe At Home program allows victims of domestic violence to use a substitute address when interacting with the state.29 Victims register with the state, and the program forwards mail received at the substitute address while keeping the actual residential address confidential. A participant in the Safe At Home program can request that the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration use the substitute address, thereby allowing the domestic violence victim to keep her residential address off driver’s license and vehicle registration lists, among others.30 Having the substitute address on her state identification card also aids the victim in using the substitute address with private sector organizations, such as a bank, allowing her to maintain the confidentiality of her residential address.

The REAL ID Act requirement that state driver’s licenses and identification cards must list a person’s actual address is a grave threat to this program.31 Including data collection requirements without adequate privacy safeguards would put these victims at risk. The state of Maryland should not make it more difficult for a domestic abuse victim to hide from her abuser. Though the 2005 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act requested that the Department of Homeland Security “consider the needs” of people in confidentiality programs,32 there is no guarantee that the Safe At Home program will be able to continue if Maryland implements the REAL ID Act.

Ngo further explains that government officials ranging from Sheriff's Deputies to DMV workers will have complete access to the nationwide REAL ID database. Accordingly, any official with access to one of the "tens of thousands of entrance points" into the database could use it track down the personal information of domestic violence victims--or anyone else with a driver's license or other state issued ID.

And this is really a quite serious problem, and it has been for years now. The government and businesses attempts to preserve privacy have too often been a joke. At this point we have all received the letter. You know, the one where you a re warned that a database was left open, a system was hacked, or a laptop with critical personal data of millions was lost.

These are our lives. Our financial lives, our vital stats, our medical profiles, etc. And it is slipping though the hands of those in which we entrust it.

Now the government wants it ALL, how long before it falls into the wrong hands?

How long until it is abused, and used to hunt down someone for revenge or venial cruelty?

It's time to go and talk to your representatives.