textfiles-politics/politicalTextFiles/apf-char.txt

          THE AMERICAN PRIVACY FOUNDATION


Charter:  WHEREAS millions of American citizens are presently having
          their privacy violated through electronic, chemical, and
          physical techniques, and,

          WHEREAS many groups with authority, such as business and
          government, are increasingly utilizing these techniques
          in the continuing invasion of privacy, and,

          WHEREAS these groups are increasingly coercing citizens to
          be subjected to these invasions, be denying employment,
          loans, benefits, or other required monetary incomes to
          those individuals who refuse to be monitored, tested, or
          investigated, and,

          WHEREAS technological innovations are continuously making
          such violations more prevalent, less expensive, and easier
          to perform,

          WITNESS THAT The American Privacy Foundation is hereby
          formed to counter the trends of increasing privacy
          violations in the United States of America.

          The American Privacy Foundation is opposed to:

       1) Collection, by any organization, of information showing
          what a citizen purchases on a day-to-day basis.
       2) Genetic testing for purposes of determining if a citizen
          possesses 'defective' or undesirable genes, and the
          subsequent distribution of this information to various
          organizations.
       3) Drug testing or monitoring by any of the following
          techniques; urine, blood, or hair follicle analysis;
          skin patches; or electronic devices meant to monitor
          legal or illegal substance useage of an individual.
       4) Sharing of information between the business community and
          government.
       5) Compilation of 'medical profiles' by data collection from
          various sources, for submission to business or insurance
          companies.
       6) Any electronic device which is used for tracking the
          location of a given individual on a continuous basis.
       7) Imbedded electronic devices intended to monitor and enforce
          legislation.
       8) Any attempt by the government to ban or eliminate cash
          currency, or to impose further controls or monitoring of
          currency.

          1) DAY-TO-DAY TRANSACTION COLLECTION:
             a) Concern: A large amount amount of information about
                the lifestyle, eating habits, and medical conditions
                can be inferred from these records.
             b) Example: Several businesses, most notably high-
                technology grocery stores, have begun collecting
                day-to-day transaction information on individuals.
                This is accomplished by enticing a customer into using
                a 'Shopping Club'-type card, which indicates the
                identity of the purchaser as well as demographic
                information. The purchases are recorded against the
                customers' name, and a log of purchases can be
                compiled.
             c) Exceptions: The A.P.F. recognizes the necessity of
                business to keep records about credit and payment
                history, in order to determine eligibility for the
                privilidge of credit.

          2) GENETIC TESTING:
             a) Concern: In a few short years, many human genes will be
                identified. If a person is discriminated against due to
                genetic abberations, this person is 'prosecuted before
                the fact'.
             b) Example: If you are found to have a gene predisposing you
                to alcoholism, you could be denied a job, loan, or
                insurance, even if you have never touched a drink in your
                entire life.
             c) Exceptions: A person might request genetic testing for his
                own knowledge or for overwhelming medical necessity. If the
                test is requested and desired by the person, and if the
                information is specifically prohibited from being shared
                with any other group, the APF has no objection to this
                practice.
          3) DRUG TESTING:
             a) This patently offensive practice presupposes guilt,
                and violates the 5th Amendment to the Constitution by
                requiring a person to undertake an action that may be
                self-incriminating. A person should be judged on their
                performance at work, only. If the person performs well,
                then they should be rewarded. If they perform poorly,
                they should be removed. What intoxicants are ingested
                by a person in their own time is in no way the business
                of any company or any government entity.
             b) Example: A patch has been developed that would be worn
                for up to one month, that is capable of detecting every
                drink, every cigarette, every substance ingested during
                that period.
             c) Exceptions: The APF does not object to standard drug
                tests for individuals in certain jobs that put other
                individuals at serious physical risk (e.g., jobs in
                the transportation industry or in nuclear power plants).
                Additionally, if a test is someday developed that tests
                present levels of intoxication, much like a Breathalyser
                does now, the APF has no objection to use of this test in
                any and all employment situations. (An employer, when he
                pays for your hours, has the right to expect you to be
                sober during those paid hours.)
          4) BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT SHARING OF DATA:
                The government has an strong need to possess certain
                information on individuals (for administration of income
                taxes and social security benfits, as an example).
                Because of this, they possess powerful informational
                tool. If this information is leaked to companies or
                individuals, a serious breach of privacy occurs.
                Additionally, your geographic location and lifestyle
                can be inferred by the records collected by business.
                If this information is shared with the government, the
                stage is set for serious abuses, all the way up to
                Bosnian-style 'Ethnic Cleansing'.

          5) COMPILATION OF MEDICAL PROFILES:
                A group known as the Medical Information Bureau, from
                Boston, Massachusettes, is rapidly becoming the 'TRW'
                of the medical community. They draw information from
                every source possible, including some that have been
                legally challenged as unethical.
                There is a legitimate need for credit-reporting companies,
                since they provide information allowing a lender to make
                intelligent decisions on the granting of something that
                is clearly a privilege (the granting of credit).
                There is not nearly as much reasonable rational as
                credit histories, since this is not an area in which
                special privileges are granted. All people have the right
                to work SOMEwhere. All people have the right to be granted
                medical care. With MIB records, these rights may soon
                be denied.
          6) LOCATION MONITORING:
                There is absolutely no reason why an employer or a
                government agency has the right to keep tabs on a
                persons' location on a continuous basis (excepting
                those individuals on probation or parole).
                There is a few businesses who have started using POSILOCK,
                a system in which an employee wears a badge that enables the
                employer to determine and track physical location of
                an employee in its' building throughout the day.
          7) ELECTRONIC LAW ENFORCEMENT:
                In a few short years, electronic microchips may be imbedded
                in a variety of common objects. In fact, recent developments
                will allow toll-road users to speed through toll-booths
                while an electronic device monitors their travel, and
                the tollsystem would automatically deduct amounts from
                a 'toll account' paid for by the traveller. In short
                order, software could be programmed to note your entry
                point, your exit point, and your average speed. If your
                average speed exceeded the speed limit, you could ALSO
                automatically receive a speeding ticket for your
                'transgression'. This concept can be carried to an
                extreme - with every object monitoring your every move,
                and issuing citations for any transgressions.
          8) THE CASHLESS SOCIETY:
                The government would truely love to make cash disappear
                entirely. If all transactions were electronic, many
                wonderous things would occur: Taxes could be collected on
                EVERY transaction you make, automatically deducted.
                And EVERY monetary transaction could be monitored, and
                the government would then know every little thing there
                is to know about us. This is perhaps the most insiduous and
                most dangerous of the potential dangers, but it is also the
                least likely to occur any time soon.