Digital Age, Thirst for Order Threaten Life, Liberty, Happiness
December 10, 2005

by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor

As Americans, we have always taken a lot of our freedoms for granted. And we have sneered at the European concept of democracy in which governments usurp many of those freedoms in the name of order.

Not just gun rights and the basic concept of individual survival and self-protection. Europeans have become inured to our cherished concept of individual privacy with various national identity papers and government dossiers on private citizens so common. Neither do they have the same freedom of the press and speech that we have enjoyed for over 200 years in the United States.

The European model of democracy has always been much admired by many elitist policy makers and professional politicians in the US, not just the anti-gunners.

Still, most Americans cling to the idea that they should enjoy the freedom to live their lives with a certain amount of anonymity, in privacy, going and coming as they please. This was always understood as a key element of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Human Rights
But those who admire the restrictive view of democracy so common in European nations, even after the horrible lessons of the Nazi and Communist regimes, have always been waiting for a justification to limit the basic individual human rights contained in our Declaration of Independence. Their concept of societal order supercedes the concept of the common-man’s freedom as we have known it, although many younger Americans have no memory of the level of liberty recalled by older folks.

The digital age has always provided the means for such an ordered and controlled society in which the government can monitor a citizen’s every move, ostensibly for the citizen’s own good. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 have given them the pretext for the creation of ever-expanding databases of information on individual citizens. And other threats, including a threatened flu epidemic, have given them even more justification.

It isn’t just the Departments of Justice or Defense Department that seek to compile, share and access information on every citizen. There are many other federal agencies which have similar designs on our liberties. Your Social Security card has been the key to such identification and information sharing. It is also the key to identity theft. For example, you don’t need to know your checking or savings account number when you go to the bank for a deposit or withdrawal. All you need is your Social Security number. And that’s all the identity thief needs.

If you think of this as Big Brother, you’re not far wrong. But a few stories that were published in late November, demonstrate that Big Brother policy is being pursued on more fronts than you might have imagined.

Public Health
For example, a Nov. 23 story in The Washington Post calls attention to a new database initiative which has already advanced so far that it has been published as a proposal in the Federal Register.

According to The Post, the federal anti-gun Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a phone-book-thick proposed rule on Nov. 22 that would give the federal government new powers to track the comings and goings of individual travelers and expand the circumstances under which passengers exposed to a serious communicable disease could be isolated or quarantined.

The Post said the proposed changes are the latest in a series of preparatory moves aimed at solidifying federal health officials’ legal authority to take actions aimed at slowing the spread of emerging contagious diseases, such as pandemic flu.

The new provisions—the $185 million to $865 million per year costs of which would fall mostly on the travel industry (consumers)—call for greater scrutiny of passengers for signs of illness and greater efforts by airlines and others to obtain personal contact information from travelers. They also broaden the list of symptoms that would make people subject to quarantine.

Although the rules strengthen federal authority to isolate passengers suspected of being infected, they also spell out in unprecedented detail key legal rights, including appeals processes, for citizens.

As might be expect, CDC officials said they are confident that the vast majority of Americans will support the changes so the government could better protect them from a major outbreak—whether naturally occurring or from a bioterrorism attack.

“We’re not talking about quarantining anybody for a sniffle or a cough,” said Martin Cetron, director of the CDC’s division of global migration and quarantine, in a conference call with reporters.

The proposed regulation requires airlines operating out of major airports and international cruise operators to request detailed contact information from passengers; maintain that information—along with the passenger’s seat location—electronically (digitally) for at least 60 days; and transmit it to the CDC within 12 hours of a request.

As proposed, passengers could refuse to give personal contact information and still travel. The agency would destroy the information after a year, by which time it would no longer be useful for tracing disease.

The rule also demands that ship and airline captains report to the CDC any deaths or signs of significant illness on board, preferably before arriving at their destination. Existing requirements are less explicit and call for reporting to local health departments instead of federal officials.

The rule spells out a somewhat broadened array of circumstances or symptoms that can result in a passenger being held in quarantine or isolation upon arrival.

Agency documents supporting the rule emphasize that the courts have long found that public health concerns can trump individual rights, including certain expectations of privacy, freedom of movement and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Domestic Surveillance
If that story doesn’t cause you concern about your future privacy and freedom, The Post provided another on Nov. 27. This one was about the Pentagon expanding its domestic surveillance activity.

The justification for this expanded domestic surveillance is—you guessed it—fears of post-9/11 terrorism. The justification for the CDC proposal is to fight international deadly diseases.

The Post report said the Defense Department has expanded its programs aimed at gathering and analyzing intelligence within the United States, creating new agencies, adding personnel and seeking additional legal authority for domestic security activities in the post-9/11 world.

The moves have taken place on several fronts, according to the report. The White House is considering expanding the power of a little-known Pentagon agency called the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), which was created three years ago. The proposal, made by a presidential commission, would transform CIFA from an office that coordinates Pentagon security efforts—including protecting military facilities from attack—to one that also has authority to investigate crimes within the United States such as treason, foreign or terrorist sabotage or even economic espionage.

The Post said the Pentagon has pushed legislation on Capitol Hill that would create an intelligence exception to the Privacy Act, allowing the FBI and others to share information gathered about US citizens with the Pentagon, CIA and other intelligence agencies, as long as the data is deemed to be related to foreign intelligence.

According to The Post, “Backers say the measure is needed to strengthen investigations into terrorism or weapons of mass destruction.”

The proposals, and other Pentagon steps aimed at improving its ability to analyze counterterrorism intelligence collected inside the United States, have drawn complaints from civil liberties advocates and a few members of Congress, who say the Defense Department’s push into domestic collection is proceeding with little scrutiny by the Congress or the public.

“We are deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America. This is a huge leap without even a (congressional) hearing,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a recent interview.

Stay tuned. This is a continuing story.
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