You Too Could Be A Suspected Terrorist

[nomatrix]

Ready to be sick?
Not only can database/watchlist take your voting right away,
how about preventing you from getting a job?

by Anthony D. Romero
ACLU Executive Director
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6680-2004Aug16.html

"Antonio Romero is what my mother calls me. Antonio Romero is also how I am known to many of my friends and family members. Unfortunately, the name Antonio Romero also appears on a U.S. Treasury Department list titled "Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons." The government provides only this name, some known aliases and a date of birth for Antonio Romero. No further attempt is made at delineating one Antonio Romero from the next. A quick Internet search found no fewer than 10 of them in New York, not to mention four Anthony Romeros."

"The proliferation of government watch lists is a troubling development in the war on terrorism. I recently learned more about this list because my organization, the ACLU, had signed a funding agreement with the Combined Federal Campaign in order to receive $500,000 it gathers from federal employees. The agreement required the ACLU to affirm that it would not knowingly hire individuals named on various watch lists. We believed that we were not required to affirmatively check employees against any list. But when we later were told that indeed we would have to check all current and potential employees, we withdrew from the CFC."


"All Americans have an important obligation and role in this country's efforts to protect us from those who would harm us. But these lists, which are notoriously vague and riddled with errors, are not the best way to fight terrorism. Just take me as an example.

"The CFC would require the ACLU -- and the more than 2,000 nonprofits that receive its funding -- to affirmatively check the names of our employees against the lists. But what do we do if there is a match? What if the ACLU had checked my name against the watch lists and found the name of Antonio Romero? If it hired the Antonio Romero targeted by the government, knowingly or not, the ACLU would open itself up to civil or criminal sanctions. So the stakes are high. To make matters more complicated, CFC recipients are not alone in this new wonderland."

[nomatrix]

1. Ever been a victim of Identity Theft?

It takes years to remove that information from Credit Reports.

Databases don't always use birthdate information.

Imagine being declined by potential employers because your name is similar to this watch list?

Should we, get Photo ID that say I AM NOT A TERRORIST?

[reprehensor]

2. JOIN THE ACLU

At least they are doing something.