-Caveat Lector-
>From http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/037140.htm
>>>Moral way to clone?<<<
}}}>Begin
State sells birth data to Web site, raising ID theft fears
SACRAMENTO -- The birth records of more than 24 million Californians
have been sold by the state and posted on the Internet, offering easy
access to critical information needed to create fake identities.
By logging onto a genealogy Web site, people can gain access to such
personal data as someone's place of birth and mother's maiden name,
which can then potentially be used to access bank records and other
sensitive material.
While the sale of the database was legal, a leading state senator and
expert on privacy said Wednesday that she was ``appalled'' by the
news and wanted to find ways to restrict access to such information.
``The time has come for us to recognize that identity theft has
become a big problem,'' said state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo.
``The fact that this information is public should raise a red flag.''
The ongoing war on terrorism has sparked a renewed nationwide debate
over how to balance personal privacy and national security. Since the
Sept. 11 attacks, experts from Washington to San Jose have been
discussing everything from a national identity card to extensive
background checks for people who buy airline tickets.
Concerns about false IDs were heightened by news that several of the alleged Sept. 11
hijackers were able to get fake driver's licenses in Florida and Virginia. Several
states have already started to tighten rules for get
ting driver's licenses.
At a special hearing Wednesday on privacy, state leaders demonstrated how easy it is
to get the building blocks for identity theft. Using the free genealogy Web site with
the California birth information, a legislative ai
de typed in the name of California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and quickly came up
with his mother's maiden name, along with the date and county of his birth.
That could provide a thief with enough information to check Lockyer's bank accounts or
get a new birth certificate, Speier said. In most cases, however, a person would need
at least one other piece of information -- such
as a bank account number or Social Security number -- to access a financial account.
Under current law, California sells birth and death records. The site, Rootsweb.com,
claims to be the oldest and largest free genealogy Web site. The site lists 24.5
million California birth records and 9 million death re
cords from the state.
One other state, Texas, has provided similar information to the company.
Lea Brooks, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Services, said birth
records from 1909 to 1995 sell for about $900 and that just two people had bought the
information in the past year. She could not identify
the buyers.
California is one of just a few states that make birth certificates easily available,
one privacy expert said.
Making it more difficult to get that information seems both reasonable and necessary,
said Jamie Love, director of the Consumer Project on Technology, a Washington,
D.C.-based privacy protection group created by Ralph Nad
er.
``If identity theft wasn't a problem, this wouldn't be a problem,'' he said. ``But,
given the limited number of data points that banks and other institutions ask for
before they grant access to your information, it seems
like this creates a problem.''
Not everyone was as concerned about the database.
State Sen. Debra Bowen, a Redondo Beach Democrat and member of the
Senate Privacy Committee, said there was little evidence to suggest
that thieves are taking such information to create fake identities.
Bowen said that the Internet site contains only basic information and
that anyone can legally get any California birth certificate across
the state.
``Unless you can answer the question that crooks are going down to
get the birth certificate and using that fraudulently, what's the
problem?'' she asked.
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