Trilight Zone

[digital8]

As the administration of George W. Bush prepares for a second term, privacy advocates are preparing to battle a number of legal measures to increase government surveillance powers as well as some commercial technologies and services that could affect privacy rights. Former Republican congressman Bob Barr believes the Bush administration will push Congress to renew provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire by the end of 2005 and enact portions of "Patriot Act II" which created controversy when a draft version was discovered in 2003. Privacy advocates are hopeful that a number of bills currently stalled in Congress are signs that legislators are having second thoughts about supporting the Patriot Act. Federal law prohibits government agencies from compiling dossiers on individuals, but nothing prohibits buying such information from commercial database companies. No laws cover how businesses can use information they receive from government; Fleet Bank in Boston closed several accounts after federal investigators made inquiries related to terrorism investigations, though investigators never charged the customers with a crime. The National Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Act contains provisions for standardized driver's licenses with machine readable data, provisions privacy advocates believe could become a de facto national identity card. Privacy legislation could create turf battles between federal and state governments as they pass conflicting laws. In 2009, California law enforcement will have the authority to take DNA samples from any suspect in an investigation, regardless of whether they are are charged with a crime. Activists are also concerned about the potential of RFID (radio frequency identification) chips to track a person's movements.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,66242,00.html



END NOTE this is some scary stufff let's all hope it doesnt pass here or who knows where it could and would go to next ? .