Mother of all data bases is reality

[sea4th]

From another group. Crossposted with permission. Anyone aware of this?

 

 

The mother of all databases is already a reality. PetData Inc., a private owned corporation in Irving, Tx. already collects information on law-abiding citizens who happen to own Pets. They say they already databanked information on 2 million residents in more than 20 US communities and 4 countries.

Your personal privacy on the auction block. If you live in a community that outsourced animal licensing functions to PetData, you may not even realize it yet. When you vaccinate your cats and dogs for rabies, your vet forwards the details to PetData Inc.

Your name, address, contact information, AND your dog's or cat's, veterinary information -- including reproductive status. It all goes into for-profit PetData Inc.'s privately owned - privately controlled database.

PetData proudly advertises its membership in the Humane Society of the United Stated. It has no corporate privacy policy.

[desertranger]

Big brother is not the government. Big brother is us.

[MaggieDog]

That's just scary...

[Mark Billadeau]

No where on their website do they indicate that they accept (receive) vaccination records directly from vets. They appear to be an out sourcing firm for animal licensing where they process tag sales which will include rabies vaccination records submitted with tag applications.

 

PetData

 

CONFIDENTIALITY OF DATA

 

We at PetData consider the privacy of our clients to be of paramount importance. PetData has never sold information or data to any third-party. PetData does not use any personally identifiable data collected for any purpose other than those as determined by client contracts. We do not respond to requests for information from non-client individuals or corporations, nor do we release information without the express written consent of our client agencies. Groups or individuals requesting licensing data should contact the individual client's animal services agency director as we release data only to our contracted client.

 

Mark

[Pearse]

No where on their website do they indicate that they accept (receive) vaccination records directly from vets. They appear to be an out sourcing firm for animal licensing where they process tag sales which will include rabies vaccination records submitted with tag applications.

 

PetData

Mark

 

Regardless though Mark, the end result is the same; a potential database containing records on all pets licensed in the US including name, address, and phone number of the registered owner.

 

Now if the federal government EVER tried to do this there would be such a howl of protest from libertarians, those to the right of center, and sensible lefties too. However, this is a growing trend.

 

Someone in the private sector lobbies government to privatize a service (in this case pet licensing decentralized at the municipal level), arguing that they can do it "cheaper and more efficiently" (which almost always turns out to be a lie after the low introductory teaser contract expires in the first year or two). A private corporation, no longer answerable to government or the citizens who elect them, collects private data on citizens.

 

Corporation makes that data available, for a price, to anyone who wants it which includes, marketers, special interest groups (think PETA, HSUS) and even government (thus allowing them to get around restrictions on them collecting said data).

 

If you think the sharing of dog licensing data is scary, you'd be terrified to see what's happening to your health and financial records.

 

Pearse