If past privacy acts are a guide, the result will be a government database of our telephone calls.
Centralized information is centralized power.
These databases are linked together by the individual's Social Security number, which the law said could not be used for identification purposes, and provide the basis for a national identity card. The public was told the purpose of the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was to protect their insurance coverage in the even of a job change. The Bank Secrecy Act sounds like something that protects the confidentiality of our financial records. In actual fact, the legislation requires banks and credit card companies to maintain records for the federal government of each customer's payments and deposits. Similar legislation requires recordkeeping for government access to private currency and foreign exchange transactions.