“Privacy is a basic American value -in the Information Age,

and in every age. And it must be protected. We need an

electronic bill of rights for this electroni c age. You should
have the right to choose whether your personal informati on i s
discl osed; you should have the right to know how , when, and
how much of that informati on is bei ng used; and you shoul d
have the right to see it yourself, ot know if it’s accurate.”
Vice President Al Gore, 1998

Dear Colleague,

Privacy is an issue of great and increasing concern--justifiably, i n my opinion. With the

development of new technologies and more disclosure required by governments, financial
institutions and other businesses are struggling to maintain the desired balance between
privacy and necessary monitoring.

Vice President Al Gore last year set a high standard in this debate. We should follow his
advice and the government should set an example by passing HR 517, the FinCEN Public
Accountability Act, which allow s consumers to view their Financial Crime Enforcement
Network file maintained on them by Treasury.

Consumers can always choose to protect their privacy in the private sector and “opt out” by
voting with their feet and doing business with a company that follows privacy policies that
they choose. The government does not afford them t he same poss ibility. The least we can do
is heed the vice president’s advice and give consumers basic privacy rights by passing HR
517.

To cosponsor, pleas e cont act Bradley J ans en at 5-2831.

Respectfully,

Ron Paul