WP: A Matter Of Public Record (Activist puts officials SS#'s on website)

[Pirate Smile]

A Matter Of Public Record
Activist Aims to Scare Officials Into Protecting Personal Data

By Jonathan Krim
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 25, 2005; Page E01

Betty (but call her BJ) Ostergren, a feisty 56-year-old from just north of Richmond, is driven to make important people angry. She puts their Social Security numbers on her Web site, or links to where they can be found.

It's not that she wants CIA Director Porter J. Goss, former secretary of state Colin L. Powell, or Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to be victims of identity theft, as were millions of Americans in the past year. Ostergren is on a crusade to scare and shame public officials into doing something about how easy it is to get sensitive personal data.

Data brokers such as ChoicePoint Inc. and LexisNexis Group have been attractive targets for identity thieves because they are giant buyers and sellers of personal data on millions of people.

But as federal and state lawmakers scramble to try to keep sensitive information from falling into criminal hands, they face a difficult dilemma: The information typically originates from records gathered and stored by public agencies, available for anyone to see in courthouses and government buildings around the country.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/24/AR2005052401347.html

[knowbody0]

1. i like feisty 56 year olds

[burrowowl]

2. Me too!

Really!

[The Sushi Bandit]

3. Here is her Website URL

http://www.opcva.com/watchdog/

Good stuff there!

[thecai]

4. William Sheehan of Seattle Did Something Similar...

... a few years ago he posted names, wages, positions, etc. of all Law Enforcement and Corrections Officers in Washington State. If they can access and share all of our personal info, then we should have the right to know theirs, after all, we pay their wages.
Of course, they shut his website down.

[Pirate Smile]

5. kick

[Supersedeas]

6. well someone has to get their attention until the Corp Media figures out

their oversight obligations...or not!!

[thecai]

7. kick n/t