San Diego County Board of Supervisors' Meeting
Good afternoon. I am Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. We are a nonprofit consumer information and advocacy program based here in San Diego. I have a brief statement in the form of questions regarding the privacy implications of privatizing the County's information technology systems.
Remarks by Beth Givens, Director
Promoting Health / Protecting Privacy
Workshop sponsored by Consumers Union
and California HealthCare Foundation
San Diego, CA
My name is Beth Givens. I am the director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, formerly of the Center for Public Interest Law at the University of San Diego, and now associated with the nonprofit consumer organization UCAN, the Utility Consumers' Action Network.
By Beth Givens, Director
U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Privacy Forum
Washington D.C.
I have been asked by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to present an overview of consumers' concerns about financial privacy and security. I think the best way for me to do that is to tell you about some of the cases that have come to my attention from people calling our hotline or sending e-mail messages.
Case 1
Presentation to Western Regional
Home Management and Family Economics Educators
Salt Lake City, Utah
By Beth Givens, Director
Privacy on the Internet is exploding as a topic of public concern these days. Recent surveys have found that 4 out 5 Net users are concerned about threats to their privacy when they're online. Yet only 6% of them have actually experienced privacy abuses.
San Diego County Dept. of Health and Human Services Conference, Integrating Health and Human Services
April 9, 1998
Priscilla was seeking a promotion in her county job. She was asked to sign a waiver allowing the personnel department to conduct a background check. She felt the waiver was far too broad. This is an excerpt:
In 1973 the U.S. Dept of Health Education and Welfare (HEW) to look at the impact of computerization on medical records privacy. The members wanted to develop policies that would allow the benefits of computerization to go forward, but at the same time provide safeguards for personal privacy.
San Diego County Technology Summit
San Diego County Supervisors
Presentation by Beth Givens
Thank you Chairman Horn for convening this Technology Summit today, and for inviting me to speak.
Privacy has become one of the hottest societal and public policy issues of our time. You can't open up a newspaper these days without seeing an article about the implications of a new technological development affecting personal privacy.
Anna bought several pieces of furniture at a store. When she tried to pay by check, she was asked to show her driver's license. The clerk took her license and placed it on a pre-marked spot on the counter. She looked up and saw a camera on the ceiling. She complained that her driver's license had been photographed without her permission, canceled her order and left the store. She followed up by writing a complaint letter to them and to her legislator.
Anna's name has been changed to protect her privacy.