Numerous lists, registries That report identifies more than 100 registries and reporting systems being maintained by federal, state and local governments. While this employee database is not available to the press and public, it is now part of a nationwide directory that is interconnected with most, if not all, states. Doeppers complained that data subjects are seldom informed about their inclusion in a registry and rarely allowed to consent if and when that information is made available on the Internet, or used for another purpose. Erpenbach said he is less concerned with government registries than with the unchecked flow of personal information into the hands of business. Most of the agencies are pretty good about not sharing the information they have.
Any government has a tremendous amount of information.
Firms would have to buy the list, and offending firms could be fined for disregarding it. The ACLU wants the registries to be run ethically, including banning secret registries, telling citizens when their names appear on lists and allowing them to review the information, and limiting secondary uses of the information. Powers, chairman of the Assembly Privacy Committee, said he prefers that government limit the type of information it collects and dispose of it when it is through. Schneider favors having a privacy public intervenor, a state privacy watchdog with the power to sue over privacy misuses. Everyone has to be able to protect their innermost secrets.