It’s not that the government is trying to do this that puzzles me. It’s that there is so little outrage when they try:
WASHINGTON, May 26 - As the Senate moves to complete the spending bill for the Higher Education Act next month, a growing number of organizations concerned about privacy rights are fighting a Department of Education plan that would require colleges and universities to place personal information on individual students into a national database maintained by the government.If included in the spending measure, the plan would radically change current practice by requiring schools to provide personal information on all students, not just those receiving federal aid.
Submissions would include every student’s name and Social Security number, along with sex; date of birth; home address; race; ethnicity; names of every college course begun and completed; attendance records; and financial aid information.
Jim Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said: “Once a database is created for one purpose, regardless how genuine or legitimate it is, it’s very, very hard to prevent it from being used for law enforcement or intelligence purposes.” Indeed, the feasibility report permits the attorney general and the Department of Justice to gain access to the database “in order to fight terrorism.” Backers of the proposal, while acknowledging the privacy concerns, say that the benefits of having more information about students outweigh the risks, especially for lawmakers who oversee federal aid programs.
Also especially useful whenever we need to re-institute the draft. Or pick up members of subversive movements.
“knock knock”
“who’s there?”
“george”
“george who?”
“george orwell”