Originally Posted by stow1  Outsourcing Pet Owner Privacy for Profit
Lloyd Levine's mandatory castration proposal could lead to record
corporate profits -- pet owners are in the crosshairs
Has your personal information been databanked ?
Read it and weep, California pet owners. Last week we did a little
speculating on enforcement strategies for Lloyd Levine's radical proposal
to surgically sterilize every single pet dog and cat in the entire state
of California.
But that was then, and this is now. The beat goes on.
The Mother of All Databases is already a reality
PetData Inc., a private corporation in Irving, Texas, already collects
information on law-abiding citizens who happen to own pets. They say
they have already databanked information on 2 million residents in more
than 20 U. S. communities, and four entire counties. Matthews, North
Carolina, just joined the ranks of municipalities contracts with PetData.
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, your address, your contact information. And your dog's, or
cat's, veterinary information- cat's, veterinary information--in
goes into for-profit PetData Inc.'s privately-owned, privately-controlle g
database.
PetData proudly advertises its membership in the Humane Society of the
United States. It has no corporate privacy policy.
From rabies vaccination to Animal Control at the door --two shakes of a
lamb's tail!
These California communities already contract with PetData--
a.. Antioch
b.. Dana Point
c.. Fairfield
d.. Oakland
e.. Riverside
f.. San Clemente
g.. San Luis Obispo
h.. Torrance
i.. Vacaville
j.. Vallejo
k.. County of San Luis Obispo
l.. County of Solano
If you live in one of these California municipalities or counties, your
local elected officials struck a deal with PetData. For a modest fee,
PetData is doing the animal licensing enforcement for your community. If
you vaccinate an unlicensed pet, you're going to hear from PetData.
But it gets better.
PetData can kick back and watch the profits roll in
Matthews, North Carolina, is paying them $3.75 for each one year
license they collect on.
That's just the beginning.
Its the aftermarket sales that are going to be most valuable to
PetData.
Insurance companies, landlords, breed bigots, pet supply marketers. .
.Gonad Nazis
PetData is building itself one hell of a marketable databank. Not just
for California, either. Check out the website. Albuquerque signed a
five year contract with PetData.
But in a world where greed is good. . . who cares? Its the American
way. Plus, your dog or cat is already neutered. You're not breaking any
laws. Life is good. Right?
Wrong.
The New York Times reports that its virtually impossible to find
housing in Manhattan--where housing vacancy rates hover in the very low
single digits-- if your household includes a dog that weighs over 20 lbs. If
you've got more than one dog or cat? Fuhgeddaboutit.
Gawd knows insurance companies are itching to drop dog owners. They
just have to find 'em.
But Gonad Nazis on a mission ? Oooh, baby! PetData is marketing the
reports it can run from the data it collects. Need a list of households
with intact dogs or cats in Riverside, California? Shazaam!
Not paranoia. Not a conspiracy theory. They are coming for you. And
certain sensitive parts of your pets.
The Humane Society of the United States, the largest, wealthiest animal
extremist organization in the country--one that is dedicated to
eliminating pet ownership-- is already using PetData as a mouthpiece.
Will municipalities increasingly outsource law enforcement
responsibilities to profit-motivated private organizations? Ones with no public
accountability?
As a private corporation, PetData's employees are responsible to their
own Board of Directors. We the People don't get to vote on what they
do, or how they do it.
Meanwhile, back at the Nanny-State nursery
Poor, clueless Lloyd Levine.
Levine -- the pro-choice Democrat, representing a pro-choice
constituency in a pro-choice state -- who wants to deny pet owners any choices.
Levine-the-liberal -- now turned animal extremist poop-boy-- intent on
bringing fascism to the homes of California dog and cat owners.
Maybe freedom of choice and the right to privacy really don't matter to
Lloyd Levine. Or maybe he thinks its okay to deny these liberties to
"certain people", like pet-owning Californians.
But I'm thinking the 60+ percent of Californians that own cats and dogs
would kick his butt from one end of the state to the other if they knew
what AB 1634 really means to them, and to the pets they love. |