Small Privacy Victory

[talon]

http://opea.org/judges-ruling-grants-temporary-restraining-order-protecting-state-employees

There really is no reason for a newspaper to have this massive amount of information. If they have a complaint against a single person or even a small group of people, it would be one thing to release ID information - but I still don't think birth date info is essential outside of an actual trial.

I believe the newspaper simply wants to mine data and harass employees. I know that the job I have entails being investigated by the FBI and the OSBI every single year, since it's considered a sensitive job involving confidential information and is also considered one of the jobs that has to be filled even when other state offices are closed for holidays and snow days. If they clear me of wrongdoing every single year, then no private citizen has the right or the need to know my personal and private data.

I, personally, am not concerned about identity theft because I have a history spanning more than 20 years of not taking out loans or getting credit cards and my location is very well documented through my internet usage and employment. When I take trips, that's also well documented and there are often hundreds of witnesses for those trips. But that isn't to say that just any Tom, Dick, and Jane has the right to my personal information. If I haven't met you in person and gotten to know you, you probably don't know where I work and you definitely don't know my birth date, my Social Security number, my income, or my banking information. You may be able to get parts of it, I don't doubt the ferreting abilities of some people and having a unique name like mine makes it easier to find such information, but I'm old and I've lived around the world and I doubt anyone would be able to get all of the information, scattered as some of it is in places that haven't even gotten electricity yet, let alone internet.

Still, I can't fathom any reason a newspaper would need this information.