January 22, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
media@aclu.org
Collection of Employees' Personal Financial Data Could Lead to Identity
Theft, Privacy Expert Testifies
PROVIDENCE, RI - The American
Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today raised significant privacy concerns
over proposed regulations that would force many employees of local gaming
centers to turn over personal financial information to a state agency. National
privacy expert Robert Ellis Smith will testify at a Department of Business
Regulation hearing tomorrow on behalf of the ACLU to argue, among other things,
that the proposed intrusion on the privacy of employees will likely be of little
use to the state, but could be a magnet for identity thieves.
"Studies show that close supervision and creating a culture where
employees all have a stake in honesty in the workplace perform far better than
the idle collection of vast amounts of personal information," Smith said. "Most
likely, all this information will be stashed somewhere, never to be used, while
it will remain a tempting archive for identity thieves and their
cohorts."
The Department is proposing to turn what used to be a
two-page annual renewal form into a 20-page form for many employees of the
Lincoln Park and Newport Grand gaming and entertainment centers. The new
questions on the form require employees to disclose a variety of personal
financial information, including a list of all bank accounts and safety deposit
boxes.
The new form also repeats a dubious provision from prior
forms, requiring employees to waive their Fourth Amendment rights over any
premises which they "occupy or control" and their personal property and effects.
The proposed form concludes with an expanded "release authorization," permitting
virtually every conceivable public and private institution to "release any and
all information" it has pertaining to the employee that the Department requests.
The proposed form was apparently taken from one that has been used
for some time at casinos in New Jersey. However, the ACLU noted that the spike
in identity theft in recent years has caused people to be more concerned with
protecting Social Security Numbers and other sensitive information.
"This is a perfect example of the government collecting
information solely for the sake of collecting information," said ACLU Executive
Director Steven Brown. "There has been no rash of incidents of dishonesty among
these employees to warrant such a severe intrusion on their
privacy."
Tomorrow's public hearing was scheduled after unions for
employees at the two facilities sued last month to halt implementation of the
new forms.
