1. Social Security Number: Social Security Number in the U.S. is similar to Personal Identification Number in China. When Social Security Numbers were first issued in 1936, the U.S. federal government assured the public that use of the numbers would be limited to Social Security programs. Today, however, the Social Security Number (SSN) is the most frequently used recordkeeping number in the United States. SSNs are used for employee files, medical records, health insurance accounts, credit and banking accounts, university ID cards, and many other purposes. For more information about Social Security (including its history), check out the website at http://www.epic.org/privacy/ssn/.
2. Privacy Times: Privacy Times is a subscription-only newsletter covering privacy & freedom of information law and policy. It is read largely by attorneys and professionals who must stay abreast of the legislation, litigation, and executive branch activities, as well as consumer news, technology trends and business developments. Please visit http://www.privacytimes.com for more information.
3. Simson L. Garfinkel: Simson L. Garfinkel is Chief Technology Officer at Sandstorm Enterprises, a computer security company that develops offensive information warfare tools used to probe the security of computer systems and test defenses. Garfinkel was the founder of Sandstorm Enterprises in 1998 and remains one of its principal stockholders.
Besides his activities as an entrepreneur, Garfinkel is a journalist and author. He was one of the founding contributors to Wired Magazine. His articles have appeared in more than 50 publications including Computer World, Forbes, The Nation, The New York Times, Omni and Discover. Garfinkel is the author or co-author of ten books, published by O'Reilly and Associates, Springer-Verlag, and IDG Books. Garfinkel's most recent book, Web Security, Privacy and Commerce, is a detailed manual for securing Internet-based information systems.
Please see http://simson.net/bio.html for more detailed and updated information about Garfinkel.
4. Ronald Reagan: Ronald Reagan was the Fortieth President of the United States ( 1981—1989). On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. Upon graduation from Eureka College, he became a radio sports announcer. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood. During the next two decades he appeared in 53 films.
Ronald Reagan won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate former Texas Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush. Voters troubled by inflation and by the year-long confinement of Americans in Iran swept the Republican ticket into office. Reagan won 489 electoral votes to 49 for President Jimmy Carter.
On January 20, 1981, Reagan took office. Only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin, but quickly recovered and returned to duty. A renewal of national self-confidence in 1984 helped Reagan and Bush win a second term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes. In 1986 Reagan obtained an overhaul of the income tax code, which eliminated many deductions and exempted millions of people with low incomes. Please visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rr40.html for detailed information.
5. privacy in the information age: Privacy has been a much concerned and debated issue in the information age. Current computer technology has made it much easier for various government agencies and private businesses to collect and share people's personal information in the electronic format. In addition, people's use of the Internet can also be monitored and tracked very easily. For a discussion of the privacy issue in the information age, check out the web page at http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/issues/priv/resource/privunit.htm and http://www.privacyinternational.org/ for ideas of discussing the privacy issue.
6. Department of Motor Vehicles: In the U.S., one needs to have a valid driver license to operate a vehicle (e.g. a car, truck, etc.). It is issued by each individual state through its Department of Motor Vehicles (or under similar names). Since the U.S. does not have a national personal identification card system, the driver license has become the Personal Identification Card similar to that found in China. To see how a department of motor vehicles works, check out the website at http://www.odot.state.or.us/dmv/.