Forum Navigation
Topics
Log In
Log Out
:
Forum Search
New Today
New This Week
Advanced Search
Tree View
Forum Account
Edit Profile
Register
Forgot Password
Forum Tools
Help/Instructions
Policies
CLICK STATE TO SEE:
"WATCH LIST"
Marked with: 
"OPEN & HONEST"
Marked with: 
...
|
| 2-5-06: What protects your personal i... |
|
| Author |
Message |
    
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3530
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? 
Votes: 18 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - 3:32 pm: | 
|
UPDATED 1:37 PST Feb. 6: Do companies like Choicepoint have a vested interest in making sure elections become computerized? You be the judge -- here are the kinds of databases that are and will be created with new e-elections technology:
- Massive computerized statewide voter registration databases
- Voter identification cards and voter biometrics
- VoteRemote-style electronic signature databases
- Electronic poll check-in databases
- And proposed by some companies, databases for electronic verification of your vote
Are there any laws at all that protect this kind of information from being purchased by companies like Choicepoint, one of the nation's primary resellers of personal information to homeland security, law enforcement agents, employers, insurance agencies and direct marketing groups?
For an up-close look at data-brokering activities, let's take a look at Choicepoint subsidiaries and its acquired companies.
What Choicepoint does is merge together data from various sources and then resell it (along with services crunching the data into new uses) to various other parties. Consider whether you want ANY data acquired from elections-related databases available to merge into these uses. Here is an incomplete list of Choicepoint subsidiaries and acquisitions.
Choicepoint is headed by Derek V. Smith (CEO), Douglas Curling (COO), Steven Surbaugh (CFO), all of whom are also directors. It employs John Ashcroft's new lobbying firm for federal lobbying. Here's what Choicepoint is into:
Choicepoint subsidiaries
Correction: Choicepoint President Doug Curling called Black Box Voting today and said Choicepoint has "No business relationship at all with Equifax." Curling also said Equifax was "a parent company" and "a company I used to work for."
Here's how that unwinds: SEC documents show Equifax spun off Choicepoint in 1997, although various ongoing contractual arrangements have been in effect since then, and as recently as 2005, Equifax discloses that they purchase data from Choicepoint. The current Equifax/Choicepoint connections, which do not appear to be accurately characterized as "no business relationship at all," nevertheless are not particularly pertinent to this story and therefore, we have removed them and placed them in later posts in this thread so as not to lose any information.
BBV asked Curling directly about purchases of voter registration databases and his wife's involvement and/or direct funding of election reform groups. That new information is in a separate post downthread.
- ABI Consulting Inc., a drug screening company
- Accident Report Services, Inc., a provider of police records
- Applicant Screening and Processing, a tenant screening company
- APPLICATION PROFILES INC a background check company
- THE BODE TECHNOLOGY GROUP, INC. Specializing in DNA testing and felon databanking
- Bridger Systems, Inc., a USA PATRIOT Act compliance company
- BTI Employee Screening Services, Inc., an employee pre-screening services company
- Cat Data Group, data collection services
- CHARLES JONES INC, Patriot Act "person of interest" lists
- CDB INFOTEK a seller of public records
- CHOICEPOINT BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES INC.
- ChoicePoint Direct Inc., formerly known as Customer Development Corporation, a database marketing company
- CHOICEPOINT POLICE RECORDS INC., law enforcement-related records
- CHOICEPOINT PRECISION MARKETING INC., marketing
- CHOICEPOINT PUBLIC RECORDS INC., distribution of public recods
- CHOICEPOINT WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS INC., employment-related services
- CITI NETWORK, INC. a tenant screening company
- C.L.U.E. INC, we have no clue what this does
- CPPM INC
- Customer Development Corporation, now known as ChoicePoint Direct Inc., a database marketing company
- DATABASE TECHNOLOGIES, INC, merged w. Choicepoint Public Records Inc, did the Florida 2000 election felons purge
- DataTracks Technology, Inc., a public record information company
- DataMart, Inc, a database software company
- DATAMART PROCESSING COMPANY
- DATEQ INFORMATION NETWORK, INC , an insurance underwriting services company
- DBT Licensing Corporation (this is the Choicepoint entity that took over Database Technologies.
- DBT Online,, a public records provider
- Drug Free Consortium, a drug testing company
- Drug Free, Inc., a drug testing company (EPIC)
- EQUISEARCH SERVICES INC - This company is in the current Georgia database listing the Choicepoint address and the Choicepoint officers, so one would expect that it has ties to Choicepoint.
- EQUISEARCH SECURITIES INC. - also shares address with Choicepoint and officers with other Choicepoint companies.
- i2, INC. This in in Wash. DC area, don't know what it does
- Identico Systems, LLC, a customer identity verification company
- INFORMATION AMERICA INC (merged w. Choicepoint Public Records Inc)
- insuranceDecisions, Inc., an insurance industry claims administration company
- THE INFORMATION CONNECTIVITY GROUP, INC (merged w. Choicepoint Public Records Inc)
- Informus Corporation, a company enabling ChoicePoint to offer products online
- INSURITY INC, customizes insurance policy rating & issuance software & business outsourcing services
- Insurity Solutions Inc., an insurance rating company
- Kramer Lead Marketing Group, aka List Source, Inc.a marketing company
- L&S Report Service, Inc., a provider of police records
- List Source, Inc., d/b/a Kramer Lead Marketing Group, a marketing company
- Marketing Information & Technology, Inc., a direct marketing company
- Medical Information Network, LLC, an online physician verification service
- Mortgage Asset Research Institute, Inc., a mortgage fraud monitoring company
- NATIONAL CREDIT AUDIT CORPORATION
- NATIONAL DATA RETRIEVAL, INC, a provider of public records information
- NATIONAL DATA RETRIEVAL, LLC
- National Drug Testing, Inc., a drug testing company
- National Medical Review Offices, Inc.
- NATIONAL FRAUD & IDENTITY THEFT CLEARINGHOUSE INC
- NATIONAL RAPE EVIDENCE PROJECT, INC
- NATIONAL SAFETY ALLIANCE, INCORPORATED
- NSA ATLANTA, INC and NSA Resources, Inc. drug testing
- OLI ACQUISITION, INC
- Pinkerton's, Inc., a preemployment screening company.
- Professional Test Administrators, Inc., a drug testing company
- Programming Resources Company, insurance software company
- PUBLIC RECORDS ONLINE INC
- QUICK TEST INC
- RAPSHEETS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
- Rapsheets.com, an online provider of criminal records data
- RESIDENT DATA, INC a residential screening services provider
- RRS Police Records Management, Inc., a provider of police reports and related services
- SEARCHPOINTE INC
- STATEWIDE DATA SERVICES, INC.
- SUPERIOR INFORMATION SERVICES INC
- Templar Corporation
- TML Information Services, Inc., a provider of motor vehicle reports
- Total eData Corporation, an e-mail database company
- Tyler-McLennon, Inc., a background screening company
- VIS'N Service Corporation
- Washington Document Service, Inc., a court record retrieval service
- VITAL CHEK NETWORK, INC a provider of vital records
Please see this page, comprehensive work done by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which provided some of the information above.
What does this have to do with elections?
1. This should serve as a wake-up call to U.S. citizens, whose vigilance will once again be called upon now to examine what protections are written into law to prevent the massive new databases created through voting systems from being used to invade privacy.
2. We need to become aware of the various databases that are created through different components of the voting system.
While voter registration will be an obvious target for data-brokering, another potential gold mine will be the databases created by the mail processing software for absentee ballot processing, and especially the signature capture databases used with systems like VoteRemote. Other vendors are beginning to come out with hand-held electronic polling place aids which are equipped to communicate data wirelessly.
What laws protect our data at each stage of the election cycle? Any laws?
Is Choicepoint the only company who can benefit from targeting e-elections databases?
Actually, what got Black Box Voting started on this story was an examination of the list of lobbyists who were working on enacting the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). We discovered that at the same time, many of the same lobbyists were working on enacting the "e-Government Act of 2002."
We began wondering how electronic voting systems and other e-government initiatives interact.
For more education on the e-government phenomena, do some Googling of one of the architects of the Georgia Diebold purchase, Larry Singer, who was with the Georgia Technology Authority at the time. Check out some of his deals (and why was he showing up in Ohio during Diebold purchasing pitches?).
Should there be no databases?
Of course databases are extremely useful. Like any technology, though, they need an analysis of safeguards and potential abuses before implementing them and especially before selling them or making use of them for other purposes.
It seems that very little discussion has taken place about the ethics of data-brokering, especially in elections.
Regarding the elections issue, full disclosure is important about who is lobbying, who is funding elections-related industries and groups, what data is created, how it is used, what protections prevent other uses, and what penalties will be invoked for breach of privacy of an elections-related database.
* * * * *
PERMISSION TO REPRINT GRANTED, WITH LINK TO http://www.blackboxvoting.org |
Pat Vesely
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Pat_vesely
Post Number: 3
Registered: 02-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - 8:48 pm: |
|
Here's some testimony by Lillie Coney before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Hearing on Proposed Voluntary Guidance to the States on Implementing Statewide Voter Registration Databases, Boston Massachusetts, April 26, 2005, from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) located in Washington, DC.
http://www.epic.org/privacy/voting/register/eac_testimony42605.html
<snip>
Privacy is an important component of a democratic election system.1 In order to exercise their right to vote most states require voters to make information about themselves available in the public domain. There are approximately 215 million eligible voters in the United States with only 144 million of them registered to vote.2 It is common knowledge that voter registration rolls are used to select jury pools for local, state, and federal judicial proceedings. However, most voters do not know that in many states voter registration data is considered public information that is available to third parties for non-voting related purposes. In a limited number of states and under certain circumstances voters are provided the option of limiting the amount of information provided to a third party. Is it time to ask ourselves if the lack of opt-out privileges is the best policy for voter registration?
Some state practices regarding voter registration records limit the type of voter information shared with third parties. For example the full date of birth, place of birth, mothers maiden name, previous address, and whether a person routinely votes absentee may be withheld.
There were signs during the election of 2004 that identity thieves used social engineering attacks in attempts to obtain social security numbers from voters.3 In several states authorities reported that registered voters received unsolicited calls from individuals who said that they needed the voter's social security number to confirm their registration.4
A few states in an attempt to comply with HAVA are hiring private companies to build the state's centralized voter registration database.5 The use of private contractors raises concerns about the other possible uses of the personal information provided by the state. Also the move to create statewide voter registration databases may further erode the privacy of voters.
Another challenge faced by administration of centralized voter registration lists are the problems presented when attempts are made to purge voter roles by using data obtained from non-voting related sources. In 2000, a data broker acquired by ChoicePoint before the election provided the state of Florida with a list of 8,000 names that incorrectly identified legal voters as having felony convictions in the state of Texas.6 This error lead to the denial of voting rights for legally registered voters in that state.
Before the adoption of centralized voter registration rolls, policymakers, the public, and the media should carefully investigate the risks associated with this proposal. The observations on how states and local governments adopted e-voting technology may indicate that the statewide centralization of voter registration lists may involve contracts with private companies. To date there is evidence that some states are in fact taking this route as a means of meeting the HAVA's 2006 deadline for voter registration databases.7 One information management company, Accenture, is making progress in winning contracts. The States of Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Wyoming have hired Accenture to manage or assist them in developing their statewide-centralized voter registration databases.8 Accenture is the company responsible for creating the Florida 2004 error prone felon purge list, which was discard after a court order forced its disclosure prior to the election.9 The Miami Herald discovered that Accenture wrongly included 2,119 names among those listed for removal from Florida's voter registration roles for the November 2, 2004 election.10
<snip>
1 , Testimony, Technical Guidelines Development Committee, Hearing on Human Factors and Privacy, available at http://www.vote.nist.gov/voting_statement.pdf September 22, 2004
2 Kim Alexander and Keith Mills, Voter Privacy in the Digital Age, California Voter Foundation, May 2004, at http://www.calvoter.org/issues/votprivacy/pub/voterprivacy/introduction.html.
3 Marcia Savage, pg. 57, "Former Hacker Mitnick Details the Threat of ‘Social Engineering,' Computer Reseller News, April 28, 2003
4 Voters, Beware of Scammers' Election-Year Scheme, KANSAS CITY STAR, October 14, 2004, at 3.
5 Dara Kam, Voter-Tracking System Faces Hurdles After Thousands Say they were Purged from Rolls, FLORIDA TODAY, October 4, 2001, at 1.
6 "Florida's flawed "voter-cleansing" program – Salon.com's politics story of the year," SALON.COM, December 4, 2000.
7 Judith Davidoff, Accenture Work Behind Schedule, Capital Times, March 2, 2005, at 8A.
8 Judith Davidoff, Accenture Work Behind Schedule, THE CAPITOL TIMES (Madison Wisconsin), March 2, 2005, at 8A.
9 Chris Davis and Matthew Doig, pg. A1, "Shining light on company behind felon voter list," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 14, 2004
10 The Miami Herald, pg. 1, "Florida cash keeps Bermuda tax haven green," July 15, 2004
<more>
http://www.epic.org/privacy/voting/register/eac_testimony42605.html
FAIR USE NOTICE This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Pat A. Vesely ;-) |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3540
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - 9:47 pm: |
|
Pat Vesely:
Thank you so very much for providing documented, right on-point material. I could quote and quote and quote you, your analysis is so spot-on.
quote:ChoicePoint, the firm that collected the data, finds itself the target of growing criticism abroad and investigations in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Mexico over whether privacy laws were violated. Latin American media have decried the company's actions, including what Mexico claims was the illegal sale of confidential voter registration records of more than 65 million of its citizens.
Bingo. The company was Choicepoint and what it purchased was voter registration lists and what it used them for was unrelated to elections, and without the voters' permission or knowledge.
quote:..police raided the offices of two businesses suspected of selling information to ChoicePoint, The Associated Press reported. One of the businesses had a database containing federal voting records
The company is Choicepoint, and it's buying from illegal third-party vendors, and the menu includes federal voting records.
quote:Are you saying that Choicepoint isn't connected to the rest of those companies or doesn't collect and aggregate any or all of those data sets and resell them? Are you implying that the laws prohibit them from getting involved in voter registration databases at some point in the future if they so choose?
Bingo again.
- Choicepoint IS connected to these companies
- Choicepoint DOES aggregate data sets and resell them
- The laws ARE NOT sufficient at this time to protect voter information.
quote: (From Lillie Coney, EPIC: "most voters do not know that in many states voter registration data is considered public information that is available to third parties for non-voting related purposes."
Bingo. Once again, we're rushing ahead to some vague hoped-for future voluntary standards for an issue that's barely being discussed.
quote:Lillie Coney again: "A few states in an attempt to comply with HAVA are hiring private companies to build the state's centralized voter registration database"
Not just a few. Almost ALL the states are contracting with private vendors for this. Check out Saber, DIMS, and the fumbling of Accenture on this.
quote:Coney again: "Before the adoption of centralized voter registration rolls, policymakers, the public, and the media should carefully investigate the risks associated with this proposal."
That is precisely the issue in this article, and thank you Pat Vesely for documenting further that the concerns are real, that Choicepoint already has an undesirable track record, and that when it comes to election integrity, there is no place for conflict of interest. |
Jim March
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Jimmarch
Post Number: 115
Registered: 01-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - 11:10 pm: |
|
We could do a whole 'nuther article on Accenture and their record of unbelievable incompetence. Failed contracts of every description, voting related and otherwise. Formerly known as Anderson Consulting until Arthur Anderson ruined the name in the Enron fiasco.
To their credit Anderson Consulting had already been spun off from AA by the time the Enron thing went down but Anderson Consulting had a WORSE rep prior to that.
Accenture is best known in voting circles for getting in a joint venture to do military absentee voting...with a Saudi Arabian company as partners.
Now lesse here...if you want Democracy protected, I dunno 'bout y'all but the first place *I* want to go to look for it is Saudi Arabia. Right? They've got SO much experience in such matters...grrr.
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
TRIPLE PROTECTION FOR ELECTION 2006 - STARTING NOW:
(1) Use Freedom of Information, public records requests ("All American Paper Chase")
(2) Try Dumpster Diving for Democracy
(3) Candid America Project - Don't leave home without your camcorder
HOW TO DO IT: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/6/6.html
|
Pat Vesely
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Pat_vesely
Post Number: 4
Registered: 02-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - 11:22 pm: |
|
I thought John gave something of a "MicroSoft" tech support answer above when he said, "ChoicePoint has not, does not now, and, they say, will never have anything to do with elections."
While his response was technically correct, it didn't address the problem that you were describing.
ChoicePoint really doesn't have anything to do with elections per se, BUT.......
Pat A. Vesely ;-)
(edited by admin to remove speculation about motivation. Issues only, guys.)  |
Kathleen Wynne
Moderator
Username: Admin_ii
Post Number: 200
Registered: 08-2005
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - 11:27 pm: |
|
We should take a closer look at the US Hispanic Leadership Institute, founded by Dr. Juan Andrade.
Considering that for the last 30 years the USHLI has been meticuously gathering data on all demographics for Hispanic voters throughout the U.S. and has published 425 studies relating to those demographics, it would seem quite possible that this extensive amount of data would have caught the attention of Choicepoint and/or our government.
When I spoke with a person working at the USHLI, to coordinate BBV's interview with Dr. Andrade in April of 2005, I asked how one could obtain a copy of these demographics and I was told that USHLI sells them. The cost would be based on how comprehensive the data requested is.
I'm very interested in finding out who has purchased this data and whether it's been primarily purchased by political parties, candidates, agencies (governmental or otherwise) and, of course, voting machine vendors.
Following is a link to the USHLI website describing this service:
http://www.ushli.com/research/demographics.html
Dr. Andrade has also lectured on American politics at the request of governments and political parties in Bolivia, Haiti, Colombia and other Latin American countries, which means he has contacts and influence in Latin America and may well be gathering the same kind of demographic data in these cities for political reasons as well.
Following is an interesting editorial written by Dr. Andrade for the Chicago Sun-Times regarding the expanded use of immigrant ID cards that supports the documenting of personal data of all immigrants (whether legal or illegal) coming to the U.S. Although he puts this in a positive light, I wonder if he's thinking of the best interests of these immigrants or not. You decide:
quote:"Expanded use of immigrant ID cards benefits us all; Wouldn't it be better to have 200,000 more immigrants helping police rather than hiding from them?
16 May 2003
Chicago Sun-Times
"A public hearing on the amendment to expand the matricula consular ordinance to include countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean that have offices in Chicago should be held promptly by the Cook County Board Finance Committee. The amendment would benefit an additional 200,000 immigrants working and paying taxes in Cook County. After the public hearing, the Finance Committee should report the amendment out favorably for a vote by the full board.
The Mexican Consulate started issuing cards as legal identification in 2002. About 200,000 immigrants have received this very sensible and valid form of identification. Seeing what Mexican immigrants were paying to send nearly $10 billion home annually, banking institutions quickly started accepting the cards. Using them, immigrants were able to open checking accounts, deposit payroll checks, use ATM machines, build and maintain good credit, start a savings plan and work toward qualifying for a home mortgage. The influx of billions in new dollars enabled banking institutions to strengthen their portfolios, serve and bring into the banking system a much larger part of the community, and make a little profit. It was a win-win situation all the way around.
Chicago's City Council promptly adopted an ordinance recognizing the legitimacy of the cards, requiring all city departments to accept them. The Cook County Board followed suit a few months later. City and county governments and banks in a number of other states did the same thing. To obtain a card, any Mexican immigrant-- whether here legally or illegally--had to provide a photo ID and a birth certificate. To prevent fraud, the card had to have at least seven safety features, including watermarks and other marks that were visible only by using a decoder.
City and county officials correctly agreed that, with proper identification, immigrants would be more inclined to cooperate with police officers investigating crimes. Immigrants are reluctant to volunteer information that could prove helpful for fear of being arrested for lacking sufficient identification, though they had nothing to do with the crime. The card also allows their children to get a library card.
Finance Committee Chairman John P. Daley should schedule a public hearing as soon as possible. Last year he sponsored the amendment to expand the county ordinance, which died when the term ended, and the current proposal, which already has five co-sponsors, is virtually identical. Only four more votes from the remaining 12 commissioners are needed for passage. The 200,000 cards issued to Mexican immigrants have not resulted in any problems with city or county departments or libraries, and our banking institutions have certainly profitted.
Why shouldn't the same consideration be extended to immigrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean? The consuls general from almost every country with offices in Chicago are ready to testify in favor of the amendment. So why exclude them?
Commissioner Roberto Maldonado has worked long and hard in carefully gathering political and public support for the measure because it would serve the people of Cook County well. Some people have expressed security concerns, and in the post-9/11 era, that's understandable. But the public and our political leaders should understand that this amendment will allow every immigrant from Central and South America and the Caribbean who has been here at least six months to register with his or her country's office in Chicago, and to be photographed and identified.
What better homeland security enhancement could we want? Isn't it better to know who everyone is and where everyone lives? Wouldn't it be better to have 200,000 more immigrants helping police solve crimes rather than hiding from them? Wouldn't it be better to have children reading library books rather than performing poorly in schools because they lack access to the information they need? Wouldn't it be better for Chicago area immigrants--who, as the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago reported last year, earn an estimated $5.45 billion annually--to deposit their money in local banks?
Immigrants would clearly benefit from passage of the amendment, but so would the rest of the people of Cook County. The County Board's Finance Committee should hold a public hearing immediately and let the people have their say."
Just some food for thought.
Kathleen
FAIR USE NOTICE This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
TRIPLE PROTECTION FOR ELECTION 2006 - STARTING NOW:
(1) Use Freedom of Information, public records requests ("All American Paper Chase")
(2) Try Dumpster Diving for Democracy
(3) Candid America Project - Don't leave home without your camcorder
HOW TO DO IT: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/6/6.html
|
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3549
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - 11:39 pm: |
|
Kathleen,
That was an interesting post, and I appreciated the links. I wonder if USHLI ever sells its data to non-political purposes, like marketing firms and so forth, and what information it contains.
I was very surprised to see Dr. Andrade pushing ID cards for Hispanic immigrants. |
Kathleen Wynne
Moderator
Username: Admin_ii
Post Number: 201
Registered: 08-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - 11:45 pm: |
|
Me too, Bev. Perhaps we should endeavor to find out!
Kathleen
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
TRIPLE PROTECTION FOR ELECTION 2006 - STARTING NOW:
(1) Use Freedom of Information, public records requests ("All American Paper Chase")
(2) Try Dumpster Diving for Democracy
(3) Candid America Project - Don't leave home without your camcorder
HOW TO DO IT: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/6/6.html
|
Pat Vesely
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Pat_vesely
Post Number: 5
Registered: 02-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 12:10 am: |
|
I'm a little interested in their "Special Reports" and how they might be used for the 'social engineering' of disenfranchisement campaigns.
http://www.ushli.com/research/special_reports.html
Special Reports
From time-to-time USHLI will publish special reports. For example, in 2006 USHLI will publish a special report analyzing Hispanic voter registration in Chicago and Cook County by age, gender, precinct, ward, county board district, representative and senate districts, congressional districts, and judicial districts.
Another report will profile the Hispanic population in Chicago by community area, race, ancestry, age, income, labor status, educational background, homeownership, citizenship status, and language preference, with a similar profile of Hispanics in Cook the collar counties.
A third special report will profile the states of Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey by race and political representation.
Could these be the new 'swing states'?
Pat A. Vesely ;-) |
Kathleen Wynne
Moderator
Username: Admin_ii
Post Number: 202
Registered: 08-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 7:02 am: |
|
Excellent analysis there, Pat!
In our interview with Dr. Andrade, we couldn't understand why a man with such impecable credentials would even consider lobbying for a voting machine vendor. What did he expect to gain?
Studies have shown that the Hispanic Community is the fastest growing minority in the U.S. That equates to political clout and power if you have at your disposal the demographics of all Hispanic voting blocs in the U.S., which USHLI definitely has.
Your point about "social engineering" is very astute in how it relates in the context of computer security. For example, here's a link to an article explaining how social engineering could be used by a hacker:
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1527
Something to think about.
Kathleen
(Message edited by admin_ii on February 06, 2006)
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
TRIPLE PROTECTION FOR ELECTION 2006 - STARTING NOW:
(1) Use Freedom of Information, public records requests ("All American Paper Chase")
(2) Try Dumpster Diving for Democracy
(3) Candid America Project - Don't leave home without your camcorder
HOW TO DO IT: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/6/6.html
|
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 1676
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 8:01 am: |
|
Kathleen,
That Social Engineering article (also Part II) is a humdinger. Thanks for the link. |
Kathleen Wynne
Moderator
Username: Admin_ii
Post Number: 203
Registered: 08-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 8:10 am: |
|
So much for the "perimeter" defense election officials are swearing by and asking us to trust!
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
TRIPLE PROTECTION FOR ELECTION 2006 - STARTING NOW:
(1) Use Freedom of Information, public records requests ("All American Paper Chase")
(2) Try Dumpster Diving for Democracy
(3) Candid America Project - Don't leave home without your camcorder
HOW TO DO IT: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/6/6.html
|
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 1677
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 8:50 am: |
|
I'll say.
Even the most well-intentioned and on-the-ball election officials and staff would find it hard to avoid these kinds of exploits.
I had never realized this was called "social engineering."
I'd call it "how to get inside access and information by manipulation." |
Julio Edwards
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Juliox
Post Number: 11
Registered: 11-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 11:33 am: |
|
One problem I have with the signature part of voting is that I have a terrible signature and it is rarely the same. It could easily cause my vote to be expunged for not matching some electonically scanned version of my signature. In fact, since Colorado uses the same photo and signature on our driver's licenses everytime they send out the renewals (all done my mail now, every ten years), they have a really old photo and signature of me on file. |
John Washburn
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Johnwashburn
Post Number: 3
Registered: 02-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 11:45 am: |
|
"Social engineering sounds better than short cons, short games, or grifting
Early hackers use the techniques of short cons to gather information or gain access to a system. The term social engineering was adopted because it was the social aspect of the a hack as opposed to its software engineering or hardware engineering aspects. I guess this was as social as many could get.
As an added benefit the euphemism, "social engineering", let's you avoid thinking about the theft-related roots of your "social engineering" feats. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3553
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 2:06 pm: |
|
Equifax info originally in lead article.
Per Jim, Equifax owned them he was appointed the head of choicepoint in 1997.
- CHN ACQUISITION CORP, the old name of what became EQUIFAX HEALTHCARE INFORMATION SERVICES, INC.
- EQUIFAX CITY DIRECTORY, INC, directory services, apparently; don't know if this is still active, came out of the Cleveland area.
- EQUIFAX CONSUMER INFORMATION SERVICES, INC. (Changed name to EQUIFAX DIRECT MARKETING SOLUTIONS, INC.
- EQUIFAX CREDIT INFORMATION SERVICES, INC. (changed name to EQUIFAX INC. )
- EQUIFAX DIRECT MARKETING SOLUTIONS LLC and
EQUIFAX DIRECT MARKETING SOLUTIONS, INC.
- EQUIFAX GOVERNMENT AND SPECIAL SYSTEMS INC
- EQUIFAX HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES, INC.
- EQUIFAX INC.
- EQUIFAX INFORMATION SERVICES LLC
- EQUIFAX INVESTMENTS (U.S.) INC.
- EQUIFAX INVESTMENTS (MEXICO) INC.
- ELRICK & LAVIDGE INC (changed name to
EQUIFAX INVESTMENTS (U.S.) INC.
- HEALTH ECONOMICS CORPORATION (changed name to EQUIFAX HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES) |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 1682
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 2:50 pm: |
|
I should have said,
"Social engineering" is about how to get (often illigitimate) access for the purpose of (often illegally) obtaining data or information by manipulating, lying, impersonating, flirting, etc.
It is an alternative to hacking. Or, it can be used in conjunction with hacking. E.g., A person might fool someone over the phone into giving them a key person's login and password so that they can then hack into a system without having to guess the password. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3586
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 - 10:28 am: |
|
We have some 2006 Cleanup Crew members looking into the political use of data-brokered lists, where the data comes from, who is behind it, and who has access. Thanks to John Howard for this catch, which I have transferred here.
Republican and Democrat Parties Know All About You
NewsMax.com Wires Monday, Oct. 20, 2003
WASHINGTON – Voters' ballots are still secret, but technology is helping political parties get a good idea who will vote, how they'll vote and the best way to make sure they vote, long before people actually head to the polls.
The Democrat and Republican parties are collecting information about millions of individual voters, a key ingredient in their 2004 campaign game. The close 2000 presidential election showed how important getting even a fraction more of a party's supporters to the polls can be.
Democratic National Committee has "DataMart," a new 158-million-record database of voter information connected to "Demzilla," which tracks and manages party contact with donors and activists. Republican National Committee has a 165-million-name database called "Voter Vault."
They Know Which Lie to Tell
"We can tell you exactly which house on which street we need to get out the vote, because we know that the issues they are concerned about are Democratic issues," party Chairman Terry McAuliffe said. "And we know what to say, and we know what not to say."
DNC has 306 pieces of information attached to every name, he said. In addition to its value in get-out-the-vote efforts, the data the parties accumulate helps fund-raisers, who can use it to spot voters who identify with a party but haven't yet donated to it.
It also can help parties lavish special e-mails, direct mail and phone calls on small-dollar donors, who have become even more valuable now that the campaign finance law has banned corporate, union and unlimited individual donations.
The Democrat party's database includes Census data, such as block-level demographic information; national consumer data, which provides individual details such as whether a person is married, owns a home and has children; voter files, which are available from several states and show a person's party identification and which elections he has voted in; and rundowns on how precincts voted in past elections.
Republican National Committee declined to say what kind of data Voter Vault has. Frank Fahrenkopf, who made developing voter files a priority when he was RNC chairman in the 1980s, said technology had come a long way since then.
They Know Who Has a Gun
Before user-friendly data and databases, RNC, figuring outdoor-sports enthusiasts would be receptive to the party's message, obtained hunting and fishing license lists on computer tapes from the states.
"We would compose special letters from President Reagan to them dealing with issues of hunting and fishing and outdoor life and so forth. So we were targeting the message," Fahrenkopf said.
The party, figuring anybody within 3 miles of a base probably lived or worked on it and tended to be conservative, had special mailings and get-out-the-vote efforts for people living near military bases, he said.
...
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/10/20/100539.shtml
================
While the name "DataMart" (the list used by Democratic political operatives) is interesting, because Choicepoint certainly is affiliated with various DataMart corporations and LLCs in Georgia according to the Georgia secretary of state corporations information. However, the DataMart lists were created by a company called PlusThree (http://www.plusthree.com). We have not been able to find out whether PlusThree purchases data from Choicepoint or the DataMart corporation affiliated with Choicepoint. PlusThree says they did not outsource when creating the list, but does provide the identity of the data brokers that provided their lists.
|
John Washburn
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Johnwashburn
Post Number: 5
Registered: 02-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 - 10:40 am: |
|
Data mart is also a generic term for a specific sub-set of data in a data warehouse to facilitate data mining within a well-defined topic.
For example a beer company may have a data mart for point of sale (POS) materials and sales by brand so as to facilitate discovering which POS materials actually prompt a change in sales volume. |
melodee hallett
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Insmort
Post Number: 17
Registered: 11-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 2:35 pm: |
|
HI, I believe C.L.U.E. has something to do with insurance data gathering. I hear about CLUE reports being pulled when someone is applying for insurance.
M. Hallett |
Jim March
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Jimmarch
Post Number: 118
Registered: 01-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 7:17 pm: |
|
We have another breaking computer security problem related (albiet one-step-removed) to Choicepoint:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/02/the_new_face_of_phishing_1.ht ml
This is a VERY bad situation where scammers got ahold of "security certificates" making their scam look legit.
If you're not aware, "Phishing" is where criminals set up a website that looks like a bank or other financial company and asks people to fill in confidential information that is then used for identity theft.
It is NOT normal for such scam sites to get accredited by organizations like Choicepoint, and represents a fairly serious breakdown of checks and balances.
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
TRIPLE PROTECTION FOR ELECTION 2006 - STARTING NOW:
(1) Use Freedom of Information, public records requests ("All American Paper Chase")
(2) Try Dumpster Diving for Democracy
(3) Candid America Project - Don't leave home without your camcorder
HOW TO DO IT: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/6/6.html
|
Jason Aaron Osgood
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Zappini
Post Number: 6
Registered: 12-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 5:16 am: |
|
Bev, Kathleen, Jim, John W, John G, Everyone-
Thank you for all your efforts. The state-wide voter registration database stuff is a huge concern of mine. Mostly as a potential tool of disenfranchisement. The loss of privacy is also very troubling (ChoicePoint, TIA/Poindexter, Seisent, NSA/The Matrix, etc.). Alas, I still don't have any ideas on how to address that.
The Washington Citizens for Fair Elections intend to address our state's VRDB at an upcoming meeting. Maybe June or July. Our very new, very sparse website is http://www.wafairelections.org. Right now, we're mostly about education and networking. Perhaps when we find our legs, we'll effectively lobby and such.
Cheers, Jason Aaron Osgood / Seattle WA
---
zappini.blogspot.com
|
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3692
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 5:02 pm: |
|
Hi, Jason, and welcome to Black Box Voting. I will surely visit your Web site, and good luck! I'm glad to see that you share concerns about what will be done with the databases, and of course, with their corrolary, voter disenfranchisement.
Bev Harris
Founder
Black Box Voting |
James E Lee | | |
