Mrs. Gormley said:
"The privacy issue was first and foremost in mind when this tool
was being
designed-only the name, Region and expiration date are shown.
There is NO
WAYto get any other information from this function. "
This is not exactly true. The first personal information given out
is that
the person named is a member of the AIS, which is already no one's
business
except those within AIS to whom you are already providing the
information in
other forms. The fact of membership in the Society has been
published to the
public, and in several instances, the state of residence is also
clearly
apparent, because the Region contains only that one state. If this
linmited
information is combined with any of several identity sniffing
softwares available
for those who wish to check out their fellow man on line, you have a
substantial potential breach of your member's privacy.
As for the search capability on the lookup, well, it is just real
flexible
and powerful, isn't it? For instance, it will search without one of
the fields
defined. In other words, if I just indicate R2 but don't specify a
name, I
get a list of all the AIS members in NY state. Type "Lowe" in the
name field,
and specify no Region, and see Lowell, and Hallowell, and Flowers
pop up.
There is no end of potential for fun here. And, as Loberg says,
right out front
of the webpage.
"AIS stopped making Membership lists available to "just anyone"
many years
ago."
Yes, I believe I heard something about that. Such a swell idea.
When I was
AIS Membership Secretary there were all sorts of busybodies
interested in
getting information about their fellow members to which they were
simply not
entitled. This unwholesome interest is one reason I am concerned
about this
on-line development, which I consider downright reckless. Someone
did check this
scheme against the European privacy laws, right?
The bottom line here is it is not for AIS to tell me, or any other
member,
where his or her comfort level should be with regard to our
personal privacy.
That is the member's call entirely. Remember, AIS members always
have an OPT
OUT option whether you choose to give them one or not: It is
called opting
out of AIS membership.
Now, I understand from John that because of the spam problem
participation
by the non-registerd members of this list has become substantially
more
complicated. That is unfortunate. I have always been an outspoken
proponent of
encouraging participation by the membership in Society decision
making, and tried
to offer any insight I could, even when it was clear that the
Board wasn't
much interested in what I had to say. Be assured I won't freight
him, or you,
again with my notes.
Anner Whitehead