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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidance for the implementation of the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 and OMB Memorandum 07-16, Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach of Personally Identifiable Information, both state that “The term ‘personally identifiable information’ refers to information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name, Social Security Number, biometric records, etc. alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual, such as date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc.”

If you can use this data to help facilitate this in any way, then the authorities releasing this data are in violation of some federal rule somewhere. I dunno ... does CaBi get any funding that originates with the feds? Only if it doesn't could it claim to not be in violation of this rule (or a variation of it dependent on the federal agency providing the funding.)

Bottom line whether we agree or disagree that this type of personal information can be obtained in other ways, or whether (as some have suggested) that we personally feel the trade offs make this risk 'worth it', the government has ruled that this type of information may not be released to individuals without a 'need to know'. And definitely not be broadcast as is being proposed here.

by Lance on Jan 12, 2012 10:50 am • link • report