The use of Social Security numbers is about to be legislated, Jerry Cerasale, the DMA’s senior vice president of government affairs, told a group yesterday during the DMA List Leaders meeting.
The mechanics of the Amy Boyer Law (S-2554), requiring an opt-in model to share Social Security numbers with the general public, is being hotly contested in Washington. And because the bill is attached to the 2001 CJSJ Appropriations Bill, it will be pushed through this session, Cerasale said. The bill was approved by the Appropriations Committee on July 18.
If passed as is, the bill would have minimal impact on DMers, Cerasale said. But if both vice president Al Gore and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) have their way, the bill would be expanded to prevent the exchange of Social Security numbers for business purposes, Cerasale said. An exception would be for federal government purposes.
The effect of that bill would prevent matching, negatively affect the accuracy of lists and pose significantly higher opportunities for fraud, he said. ” It would virtually eliminate social security numbers,” Cerasale said.
And while the White House has threatened to veto the bill, Cerasale said he believes the bill will be pushed through this session and was waiting to hear news on the progress of the bill yesterday.
The Amy Boyer bill was introduced by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and named after the 20-year-old woman who was murdered by a man who purchased her social security number over the Internet and use it to find out where she lived, Cerasale said.
Cerasale also cautioned the group of about 60 that anti-spam groups like Mail Abuse Prevention System are watching the industry and can make things difficult if e-mail marketers don’t comply to their standards of confirmed opt in. ” A pre-checked box is not opt in,” he said. ” If you’re calling that an opt in we’re going to be in trouble.”
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