Privacy Offenses

I l @ ve RuBoard

The right to privacy varies widely across the globe. However, there is a growing number of countries which are trying to protect their citizens ' right to privacy. Various countries have introduced criminal law addressing illegal collection, storage, modification, disclosure, or dissemination of personal data. The fundamental rights to privacy and data protection are included in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The European Union has adopted two directives that approximate the national laws on the protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data.

In the U.S., only specific types of information are given protection; among these are medical and financial records. U.S. citizens, except for minors under the age of fourteen, do not have a specific right to privacy. However, other rights have created a foundation on which certain privacy precedents have been built. The terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, have shifted the government's basic views on the right of privacy, as it has become more concerned about secret organizations and the possible threat which they pose.

Child Privacy

Lots of money is spent to gather information about children. Just look at the "clubs" and the "return this form to get..." that have toys as the enticement and are available via child-oriented products. Marketers often use youthful zeal to create a demand for a product. Typical online questionnaires are much more detailed than the traditional cereal-box promotion.

Kids do not understand the issues of how their personal information may be used. Children will unknowingly or innocently give up information about themselves which can be used and sold to others.

The problem of gathering information from kids is worse when there is no parental involvement needed to supply the response. Pre-addressed, postage -paid response cards may request that the child only enter his/her name , address, and age, and drop it in a mailbox. The Internet has made this even simpler.

An FTC study of 1400 randomly selected websites found that 85% collect some form of personal information from consumers. But only 14% offered any notice about how the information is used and fewer than 2% included a so-called comprehensive privacy policy. ^[74]

^[74] "Online Privacy: A Report to Congress," Federal Trade Commission , June 1998.

A number of websites in the FTC report solicited information from children without telling them to ask for permission before providing the information. One such site oriented toward children asked them to give their name, address, e-mail address, age, and whether they have received gifts of stocks, cash savings bonds , or certificates of deposit.

Names, addresses, age gender, family income, and sometimes even specific information such as what kind of ice cream a child likes is available to anyone willing to pay.

A Los Angeles reporter using the name of Richard Allen Davis, convicted killer of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, was able to buy a list with detailed information about thousands of children. The reporter cribbed Davis' name, along with a phony business name and phone number, sent in a $277 fee, and received a 5,500-name list of kids in the L.A. area. There was no screening process to prevent the information from being sent to a child molester, convicted felon, or pornographer.

"Most parents have no idea how much information is collected and sold about their children," says Marc Klaas, Polly's father. ^[74]

^[74] "Largest Database Marketing Firm Sends Phone Numbers, Addresses of 5,000 Families with Kids to TV Reporter Using Name of Child Killer," Business Wire , 13 May 1996.

I l @ ve RuBoard