It looks as though California Gov. Gray Davis has finally tossed a bone to people who want some semblance of privacy in their lives. An e-mail from a state Senate aide tells me Davis has signed SB 168, which gives residents a modest ability to protect themselves from identity theft.
The legislation allows people to freeze credit reports, theoretically prohibiting third parties from using credit information without permission — though this doesn’t take effect until 2003, and you can bet the financial and credit lobbyists will try to undo the law before then. The legislation also puts modest restrictions on the way businesses can use Social Security numbers. Again, we’ll have to wait almost four years for the full effect of this provision.
As such things go, it’s better than nothing. But we have a long way to go before the law gives people fundamental privacy rights when it comes to personal data.
Davis’ action comes after his successful efforts to kill two other vital privacy bills. He vetoed one, which would have required employers to tell employees that their e-mail might be monitored.
He also helped prevent passage of legislation that would have let customers of financial institutions keep their private data from being bartered. He is a great friend of his corporate backers, and showed it during the legislative session.
But he’s no friend of privacy rights.
NOTE: An earlier version of this item was considerably more harsh on the governor, based on his veto of the two previous bills. His signing of SB 168 led me to rewrite this piece.