By Anna M. Hibble:
A week or so ago, I posted on theFrontSteps about a Chronicle technology that allowed you to enter a city, a zip, or a name to find out who had contributed to either YES or NO on Prop 8. I didn’t think such information ought to be public: corporate donation is one thing; individual donations quite another, because the potential consequences seem more dangerous when shouldered by one person.
Well, it gets worse. Now you can use the same technology to find out who donated to either McCain or Obama. Yep, even if someone sent as little as $10 to McCain/Palin (which, by the way, will barely pay for a pair of stockings for the fashionable Alaskan Governor), his name is there for all to read. If I were a scary, rabid type, I could then take that name and search out his address or phone number and begin harassing him. Luckily I’m not the scary, rabid type; but plenty of other people are.
Again, I wonder if this is isn’t like making ballots public after they’ve been filled out. Your vote on the presidency, and on Prop 8, could be used by myriad individuals and agencies to invade your privacy. Perhaps next time we donate to campaigns, we ought to use the names of Superman or Wonder Woman– if we donate at all.
In the Spirit of Halloween and Election Season, Scary Technology that “Outs” Your Neighbors [theFrontSteps]
SF Gate Data Center [SF Gate]
Filed under: anna hibble, random , anna hibble, random
Public databases of contributors have been part of most campaign finance reform laws. The national one has been around for at least five years.
I can’t support eliminating disclosure for individuals, I think that by concealing that information a hundred portals for abuse of that loophole would be found by less ethical individuals. However, I would be in favor of individuals and causes accepting campaign or initiatives being required to make it very clear to every contributor, before they hand over the cash, that their name will become a part of the public record.
Aagin, I see the logic for large donations and/or companies. Small scale, especially on props like 8, I think the info could be dangerous
yes, I agree, Dan. I know for a fact that was not clear this time with 8; it would be a fair compromise in the future.