FEAR
AND LOATHING OF 'THE GOVERNMENT':
INFORMATION
TO BE EXCLUDED
FROM OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY FILES
SYNOPSIS:
Whenever something like a National Identity Bureau
is suggested,
most people resist 'the government' collecting information
about them.
Such fears can be allayed by the reminder
that the information is already contained on paper records somewhere.
No new information
will be collected for the National Identity Bureau.
It will only be a
computerized way of organizing the facts
already
recorded about
us in various legitimate, official files.
And if the electronic records are properly protected
from snooping,
they should actually be more
private than paper records,
which can easily be read by anyone who has access
to the room or the file-drawer where the paper records are kept.
The computerized Identity File for each of us
will have its
access strictly controlled
and monitored.
Only duly-authorized persons will be permitted to read our Identity
Files.
And their own identities will
be recorded
along with the length of time they spend reading our Files.
OUTLINE:
1.
AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION WILL DEFINE
WHAT TO INCLUDE AND WHAT TO EXCLUDE.
2.
WHAT WILL BE EXCLUDED
FROM OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY FILES.
A. MEDICAL INFORMATION.
B. FINANCIAL INFORMATION.
C. VOTING INFORMATION.
D. RELATIONSHIP INFORMATION.
3.
DO PAPER RECORDS PROTECT CIVIL LIBERTIES?
4.
WHY CRIMINALS FEAR COMPUTERIZED RECORDS.
5.
WE SHOULD CHECK OUR IDENTITY FILES REGULARLY.
6. COMPUTERIZED RECORDS
OF
THE PEOPLE, BY THE
PEOPLE, & FOR THE
PEOPLE.
RESULT:
Initial
rejection of an Identity File for each of us
will be quietly overcome by a listing of the various kinds of
'information'
about us that will never be
allowed in our Files.
Any fears of a totalitarian state controlling everything
will disappear when we realize the same information
is already contained in existing official records about us.
And having only one place
for such records
will mean that additions and corrections
will only be necessary in one
place.
FEAR
AND LOATHING OF 'THE GOVERNMENT':
INFORMATION TO BE EXCLUDED
FROM OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY FILES
by
James Leonard Park
1. AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION WILL
DEFINE
WHAT TO INCLUDE AND WHAT TO EXCLUDE.
The legislation that creates a computerized
data-base
for everyone
will also include powerful
penalties for any and all violations.
And the authorizing legislation will explicitly
describe
all forms of information (or opinions) about us
that will never be permitted
in our Identity Files.
And if ever any impermissible 'information' is discovered,
those parts of our Identity Files will be purged
and the person who inserted that 'information' will be punished.
When people initially reject 'the
government' having Files about them,
they are usually worried about negative information being recorded
or about some employee of the U.S. government reading private
data.
A carefully-created National Identity Bureau
will protect us against any and all possible adverse effects
of gathering selected data
into one computerized record.
Serious electronic controls and severe punishments
will discourage any misuse of our Identity Files.
2. WHAT WILL BE EXCLUDED
FROM OUR
NATIONAL IDENTITY FILES.
What do we want left out of our National
Identity Files?
Directory USA will not record anything harmful to our reputations
or that might possibly be misused by anyone.
Our Identity Files should exclude
the following kinds of
information:
medical, financial, voting, & relationships.
After the National Identity Bureau has been operating for a few years,
we might decide to exclude
other kinds of information.
The authorizing
legislation can be revised to name other 'facts'
that should never be
contained in our individual Identity Files.
And when any such impermissible 'information' is defined by law,
our Identity Files
can be purged to remove any data not
permitted.
A. MEDICAL
INFORMATION.
For purposes of showing who we are,
there is no need to include medical information in our Identity Files.
The fact that we are receiving Medicare or Medicaid could be
included.
The Social Security Administration already has such information.
But that data will not
be transferred to the National Identity
Bureau.
Our doctors and hospitals will keep good records of
our health care.
But all such medical information is private under current law.
And none of it will
be included in our National Identity Files.
Also, anyone who attempts to insert information not permitted
will be fired and
possibly sent
to federal
prison.
When we review our own Identity Files,
we will look for any impermissible medical information.
And if we find any private information that has slipped in,
we can have it removed immediately.
B.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION.
Almost all financial data will also
be excluded from our
Identity Files.
The Internal Revenue Service already has all of our tax-data.
And that will be kept just as private as anything in our
Identity Files.
Probably the only relevant tax-facts would be
that we did file
income-tax returns for certain years.
The amounts of our income and the amounts of our taxes paid
will be excluded from
our Identity Files.
The fact
that we are employed by a certain organization
would be relevant for identifying us.
But nothing about our
salaries or fringe-benefits
would be collected by
the National Identity Bureau.
The U.S. Census Bureau collects
income data from some Americans.
But any such data will not
be included in the Identity Files of any of
us.
The Census Bureau has the right and duty to publish the collective data
about the whole country and each particular region.
But this does not extend to publishing the income of any
individual.
What we buy
and what we own is
not relevant for Directory USA.
Exceptions would be items of
property that are
officially
registered:
(1) homes and other real estate
—with
detailed records kept by the
separate counties;
(2) cars and other motor vehicles
—with
detailed records maintained by the
separate states;
(3) licensed businesses
—with
detailed records preserved by local
licensing authorities.
The authorizing legislation creating the National
Identity Bureau
should specify how much detail about such possessions to include.
This will probably include just the basic facts
about the locations of
our homes, cars, & businesses.
Further details are not
needed for purposes of identification.
Our credit-scores and buying habits will not be in Directory USA.
How much we owe in credit-card debt will remain private.
And our Identity Files will not attempt to estimate our net
worth.
All such personal financial data will be excluded from our Identity
Files.
And anyone who attempts to insert impermissible data
will be fired
and punished as provided by law.
Individuals will be permitted
to read their own Identity Files
to make certain that no excluded data has been added.
C.
VOTING INFORMATION.
In the United States, voter
registration is a local responsibility.
And local voting officials are not permitted to know how we
vote.
The National Identity File for each of us will only
record
that we are registered to vote in a specific location.
(This prevents being registered to vote in more than one
place.)
The fact that we did indeed vote in a certain
election
will be kept by the local office responsible for voter
registration.
The fact that we voted (but nothing
on our ballot) can
be
recorded.
This exclusion should assure people who fear
that voters of a certain political bent will be rounded up and shot.
This will never happen in the United States of America.
D.
RELATIONSHIP INFORMATION.
Except for people who get married and/or
have children,
'the government' has no reason to record data about our
relationships.
We can remain as private as we please about all of our associations
except legal marriages and registered children.
Directory USA will record who is married to whom.
Deaths and divorces will also be recorded, because these end marriages.
(Registering the duration of each marriage
will prevent being married to more than one spouse at a
time.)
And our Identity Files will identify all our
children.
These children will also have their
own Identity Files from the first
day.
When we adopt children, this official relationship
will also be recorded in our Identity Files.
The adopted children, even those born in foreign lands,
will also have
their own Identity Files.
But beyond all such official, legal, &
registered
family facts,
Directory USA will record nothing
about our personal
relationships.
If ever any other facts or opinions are inserted
into our Identity Files,
we will be able to discover this the next time we take a look.
If anything not permitted has been inserted,
we can have it immediately purged.
And we can have the person who inserted the impermissible content
fired and perhaps sent to prison.
3. DO PAPER RECORDS PROTECT CIVIL LIBERTIES?
Some people resist computerizing government
records
because paper records makes it more difficult to violate
civil liberties.
Such advocates of the freedom of the individual against 'the
government'
seem to suggest that the
longer it takes to look
something up
the better our privacy is protected.
Allow me to tell a personal story: naturalization
papers.
When I applied for Social Security in 2006, at age 65,
I discovered that I had to prove that I am a citizen of the USA.
I had been living and acting like a citizen since I was a teen-ager.
But 'the government' had no
electronic list of all
naturalized citizens.
Thus, it took 9 months to look up the paper records.
I had been naturalized (with my family) in
Minneapolis in 1955.
But for reasons known only to 'the government'
the paper records had been shipped to the state of Virginia.
And it took 9 months to get them back to Minnesota.
As a matter of fact, my application for my records
was not looked at for the
first 6 months
because there was always a back-log of such requests for papers.
And those who had applied before me had their papers
retrieved first.
If I had known about such paperwork delays,
and if I had known that the Social Security Administration did not know
that I have been an American citizen since 1955,
I would have applied for my Social Security benefits one year
earlier.
Unfortunately, I had to wait 9 months for my
benefits to begin.
Did having only paper records protect my privacy or my civil liberties?
If 'the government' is not allowed to use computers
to verify the citizenship of any person,
then many worse injustices will occur.
Some U.S. citizens have been deported
because of missing
records.
Everyone would benefit if the Department of Homeland Security
had a computerized list of
all citizens of the USA,
including naturalized U.S. citizens born in other
countries.
With a computer Identity File showing that I
am a citizen of the USA,
my right to Social Security benefits would not have been delayed.
Keeping only paper records
means that all such records exist in only one physical location.
Some file-clerk must open a file-drawer somewhere
and pull out the pages with the information recorded.
And then the papers must be physically transported somewhere else,
which exposes them to being accidentally lost or destroyed.
Fire is always a danger to paper records.
However, having the same information in electronic
form
allows anyone with the proper authorization to learn the facts
without physically moving the
records to a new location.
(And electronic records should have back-up copies
in other
locations in case of fire or other disaster.)
Having computerized records threatens our civil
liberties
only if unauthorized persons peek into our Files.
And electronic methods can keep a complete log of exactly who looked.
Papers do not remember who
looked at them.
But computers can keep track of who read the information.
Fear of computerized records can be overcome by
understanding
the likely controls on who
can read what the computers remember.
The inefficiency of paper records is not a very
effective way
to protect our information from the wrong eyes.
Whenever we discover that unauthorized people have
read
our files,
we can request that they be prosecuted for violating our privacy.
And if the violator is an employee of 'the government',
he or she can be fired
for such
snooping
and perhaps even sent
to federal
prison.
4. WHY CRIMINALS FEAR
COMPUTERIZED RECORDS.
All people who are seeking to remain hidden from the
police
have a strong interest in keeping
criminal records ineffective.
If criminals know that they can move to a different location
without information about their criminal histories going with them,
they will be pleased to remain unknown in the new
location.
But a National Identity File for every convicted
criminal
would record
all valid arrests, trials, convictions, & sentences for that person.
And if there is an active
warrant for the arrest of that person,
this would be flashed first in that person's computerized File.
Across the picture of the individual,
words like these would appear: "Arrest this person."
Then information about the appropriate location for
incarceration.
When the national data-base is complete,
a wanted criminal will not be able to fade into the population
by pretending to be someone else.
Without a valid identity, without a personal File in Directory USA,
the criminal would be denied many activities
we all take for granted:
The criminal would not be able to apply for a legitimate job.
The
criminal would not be able to rent or buy a place to live.
The criminal would not be able to rent or buy a car.
The criminal would not be able to buy a gun from a legitimate dealer.
The
criminal would not be able to open a bank account.
All such activities require
proper identification.
And once the National Identity Bureau exists,
then anyone who has a legitimate reason to check our identities
will first consult our Identity Files in the NIB.
Because the criminal will have such troubles living
in society,
he or she might voluntarily surrender,
hoping for a favorable
resolution
of the case.
After the case has been resolved, then the Identity File for this person
would no longer say: Detain this person.
And because criminals also have a
right to read their Identity Files,
they can challenge and remove content not correct or not
permitted.
After criminals have served their time and been
released from prison,
these facts will also be recorded in their Identity Files.
But the facts about arrests, trials, convictions, imprisonment, etc.
will only be available to people with a legitimate right
to know.
5. WE SHOULD CHECK
OUR IDENTITY FILES REGULARLY.
The
Identity File for each of us maintained by the National Identity Bureau
will be accessible to each of us on a regular basis.
We will be permitted to read our own Identity Files as often as we
please.
This will be a strong
safeguard against false or misleading
information
being included in our Identity Files.
If we discover any false or mistaken 'information'
recorded about us,
we can immediately challenge such wrong data.
And it will be purged and replaced with the correct facts about that
matter.
We will also check for impermissible information
in our Identity Files.
Because the authorizing legislation said what should never be included,
we can have any such 'information' immediately
removed.
This right of every person to read his or her own Identity File
will be perhaps the strongest safeguard against 'the government'
overstepping its responsibility to collect and record official data.
Not only can we require that
the false, misleading,
incorrect, or impermissible 'information'
be immediately removed from our Identity Files.
But we can make certain that the officials who inserted
such false, misleading, incorrect, or impermissible 'information'
are identified—and
punished appropriately.
After the first 1,000 data-criminals have been sent
to federal prison,
all others who might to tempted to commit data-crimes
will be strongly warned away from any similar violations of
Identity Files.
No one will be immune from being charged with a
data-crime.
Even the highest officials of the U.S. government can be punished
for any
form of data-crime
defined in the authorizing legislation.
When we are checking our own Files for any false
information,
we will also notice old
information that should be updated:
Is a new picture needed?
Have we moved to a different address?
Have we changed our employment?
Do we have a different telephone number?
Have we married or divorced since the recorded information?
Have any new children been born or adopted?
Has anyone mentioned in our Identity File died since the last update?
When someone dies, each and every mention
of that
individual in the National Identity data-base
should automatically note the date of
death.
Why should we fear correct
information in a computer File?
Only appropriate, defined persons will be able to read our Identity
Files.
And each such visit for reading will be recorded
in case such a visit was a violation of our privacy.
A computerized registry of visitors
will empower us to identify everyone who has read our information.
6. COMPUTERIZED RECORDS
OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, & FOR THE PEOPLE.
Whenever there is some unexpected negative impact
of having a National Identity File for each person,
that kind of data can be added to the list of impermissible 'facts'.
And such matters can be explicitly excluded from all Identity
Files.
The U.S. government is not our enemy.
Government is part of our collective way of organizing our lives
together.
If any harm comes to any person residing in the USA
because of the activities of the National Identity Bureau,
then that harm can be corrected
and Directory USA can be changed
so that no similar harms ever occur again.
Rational
discussion rather than repressive
government
will determine exactly what will be included and what will be excluded.
And we in the USA can learn
from similar systems of data-collection
used in other countries that might not protect civil
liberties as well as we do.
Where 'fear and loathing' of other governments is justified,
we can learn from their misbehavior and misadventures.
And we can make our own National Identity Bureau the best on Earth.
RESULT:
Has this chapter convinced you that it is entirely possible
to gather limited information about you (and everyone else)
into a very-secure electronic data-base?
When there are new types of 'information' to exclude,
these can be added to the list in the enabling legislation.
Created
November 1, 2011; Revised 11-2-2011; 11-8-2011; 11-9-2011; 11-18-2011;
11-30-2011;
4-14-2012; 5-1-2012; 6-21-2012; 7-25-2012; 8-1-2012;
7-14-2013;
8-17-2013; 8-27-2013; 3-27-2014; 9-3-2014;
4-15-2015; 4-16-2016;
1-26-2017; 11-3-2017; 4-20-2019; 11-24-2020;
AUTHOR:
James Park is a strong advocate of all legitimate
civil liberties.
He also wishes to keep his life as private as possible,
by keeping most of the facts about himself out of government
computers.
But he freely uses the Internet to share his ideas with the world.
His personal website—now
called "James Leonard Park—Free
Library"—
has
been on the Internet since the 1990s.
He is not a famous person,
but a Google search of his full name: "James Leonard Park"
produces thousands of 'hits'.
He has no inclination to read all of these references on the Internet.
And he has no way to correct any false or misleading information.
But his National Identity
File would be much more limited in scope.
And he would we able to read his Identity File
(and correct any false or misleading information)
as soon as the impermissible 'facts' are discovered.