Bernstein calls for Internet privacy

Lee Scrivner

Wednesday, July 19, 2000 | 9:58 a.m.

Democratic Senate candidate Ed Bernstein warned of the complications and risks of living in the age of bar codes and personal information databases.

"When you buy meat at the supermarket, your insurance company can know that you are eating too much cholesterol."

Prompted by this month's Consumer Reports feature "Who Knows Your Medical Secrets?" Bernstein announced at a Tuesday news conference his intention to address the issue of privacy in this era of easy information.

"I have a comprehensive privacy agenda. We should have the right to own and control our own personal information," Bernstein said.

To demonstrate his point, and to attract media attention to his press conference, Bernstein ran a comprehensive personal information search on select reporters in Nevada -- five from Southern Nevada and five from Northern Nevada -- and hand-delivered to the reporters their life histories.

"Anyone can go to the Internet and pay an information broker to look up most of your important personal information," Bernstein said.

"All anyone needs is a date of birth, a mother's maiden name, and a Social Security number, and they can access your employment and health care records."

According to Bernstein, such information is legally neither public nor private, so it can be legally sold by a credit bureau to third-party telemarketing companies.

"And with the Internet, once this information is out, it's out," Bernstein said.

"Amy Boyer was killed by a stalker last year who bought her Social Security number for $45 from an Internet website and used the information to locate her place of work, where he killed her.

"The solution to this problem is surprisingly simple -- make it illegal for people to sell your Social Security number without your permission."

At the press conference, Bernstein produced a 17-page document from a search that he ran on himself.

"This even lists the names of my neighbors at my former addresses, and their Social Security numbers and their dates of birth. We should go to Washington and demand they stop the sale of Social Security numbers."