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Outsourcing In California May Spur Probe
by Chloe Albanesius
A California assemblyman on Tuesday called for special hearings into whether a committee with strong ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was compromising residents' personal information by shipping it to India.
Citizens to Save California (CSC), which was formed to promote the Republican governor's ballot initiatives, hired National Petition Management and Arno Political Consultants to help input data gathered from its petition drive. According to the Contra Costa Times, those companies contracted with Portland-based TechSpeed, which has offices in India.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez criticized the move and called for immediate hearings into whether the shipping of voter information abroad would result in incidents of identity theft and, if so, what recourse would be available to California voters.
"Last year, Governor Schwarzenegger had the chance to crack down on the outsourcing of jobs," Nunez said in a statement. "Instead, he vetoed legislation to prohibit the state from contracting with companies [that] use workers in other countries to fulfill the contracts."
"What is truly outrageous is that the governor's campaign committee has shipped the registration information of California voters to a company in India," Nunez added. "Outsourcing is one thing; outsourcing jobs while handing out sensitive, personal voting data at the same time is even worse."
CSC denied any wrongdoing. "The majority of the money involved with petitions will remain in state," the group said in a statement. "The methods used by these companies are common, and the voter information is public and widely available."
Nunez's investigation is "a waste of time and taxpayers' dollars," the group said. The assemblyman's objections are nothing but a "thinly veiled attempt" to derail CSC's reform efforts.
Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman David Jones, a Democrat, pledged to convene hearings immediately, according to Nunez.
States Take Different Tacks On Drug Imports
The Oklahoma Senate last week unanimously approved a measure that would create a Web site with information on purchasing prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. The bill, S.B. 977, also would allow state pharmacies to import drugs from abroad and sell them to local customers.
"We have to challenge the status quo and deliver relief to Oklahomans," Gov. Brad Henry, who pledged in his State of the State to support importation, said in a statement. "When senior citizens are forced to choose between buying food and filling a prescription, something has gone horribly wrong with the system."
The measure now moves to the House.
Meanwhile, Maine's Joint Health and Human Services Committee on Monday considered a bill that would require the state to import foreign drugs for the elderly and the disabled, the Portland Press Herald reports. Lawmakers could vote on the measure, L.D. 494, as soon as next week.
By contrast, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels on Tuesday issued support for a Web site run by pharmaceutical companies that provide residents with affordable alternatives to imported drugs, AP reports. The Republican governor, who previously served as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and as an executive at the drug maker Eli Lilly, voiced concern about the safety of imported drugs.
Finally, a group of registered nurses representing the California Nurses Association (CNA), National Nurses Organizing Committee and American Association of Registered Nurses traveled to Washington on Monday to protest Gov. Schwarzenegger's healthcare policies, including his stance on importation, during the governor's national fundraising tour.
Specifically, they criticized Schwarzenegger for vetoing several importation measures last year, including S.B. 1149 and A.B. 1957.
Michigan, Washington Target 'Spyware'
The Michigan Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a trio of bills aimed at "spyware" that is secretly installed on computers to track users' online habits.
"When someone logs on to a personal computer, there is a reasonable assumption their transactions will be made safely and privately, but this is often not the case," bill sponsor Cameron Brown, a Republican, said in a statement. "Our right to privacy shouldn't be violated in our own home nor in our own home computer."
One bill, S.B. 53 would add spyware violations to the state's sentencing guidelines, while another measure, S.B. 54, would prohibit the unauthorized installation of spyware and punish violators with up to five years in prison or $10,000 fines.
A third piece of legislation, S.B. 151, would prohibit people from copying spyware onto computers without permission.
Meanwhile, the House in Olympia, Wash., on Wednesday unanimously passed three consumer-protection bills, reports AP.
The bills would limit the creation of cell phone directories, strengthen penalties against spyware and outlaw "phishing."
Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Anacortes, sponsored the spyware bill, allowing penalties of up to $100,000 per violation of the spyware prohibition, up to a maximum of $2 million.
Phishing is the practice of sending fake e-mails or links to fraudulent Web sites that resemble the real thing. Operators of the e-mails and Web sites attempt to solicit financial or personal information, such as Social Security numbers. Currently, phishing it is not considered a crime unless someone loses money. Rep. Toby Nixon, R-Kirkland, sponsored a bill making it a crime.
The third bill, sponsored by Rep. Dawn Morell, D-Puyallup, would make it illegal for a wireless service to put anyone's cell-phone number into a phone directory without getting the customer's permission in writing.
Illinois Panels OKs Bills Against ID Theft
Two Illinois panels on Wednesday approved legislation that would require data-collection companies to notify state residents if their personal information is compromised.
The House Judiciary Committee approved one measure, H.B. 1633, while the Senate Executive Committee approved the other, S.B. 1749.
The bills, based on proposals crafted by the state's attorney general and governor and the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, comes after the data-collection service ChoicePoint revealed that it inadvertently sold the personal information of some customers to identity thieves. Some 5,000 of those customers were Illinois residents, according to Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
"The most effective way to prevent the destructive effects of identity theft is to act quickly to regain control of your personal and financial information, but this only can be accomplished if the consumer is quickly notified when the security of this information has been compromised," Madigan said in a statement.
"If a company knows that their records have been illegally accessed, they should let their customers know as soon as possible," Gov. Rod Blagojevich added.
Tougher Laws On Internet Predator Urged
North Carolina's attorney general on Wednesday called for stricter laws against Internet predators.
"Child predators are cruising the Internet today more than they cruise the playgrounds," Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement. "We need to give law enforcement better tools so they can stop these criminals before they hurt our children."
Specifically, Cooper wants to be able to charge predators who solicit minors online with a felony. Such crimes currently are treated as misdemeanors. Cooper expects state Sen. Scott Thomas to introduce legislation on the topic next week.
Cooper also is calling on lawmakers to expand the State Bureau of Investigation's computer-crimes unit by hiring four agents and three more computer-forensic experts to recover and analyze information from computers submitted as evidence to the state's crime laboratory.
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