<<Back to Article National Association of Government Contractors www.governmentcontractors.org Legislative provision could be big trouble for small biz Jun 20, 2008 New senate housing legislation includes a buried, but very significant provision that may have profound repercussions on America’s small businesses. The detail, which was added to the legislation with no debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track and report information on nearly every electronic business transaction to the federal government. Former House majority Whip, Dick Armey had this to say regarding the measure, "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week. Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America's small businesses are breathtaking." "Privacy groups like the Center for Democracy and Technology and small business organizations like the NFIB sharply criticized this idea when it first appeared earlier this year. What is the federal government's purpose with this kind of detailed data? How will this database be secured, and who will have access? Many small proprietors use their Social Security number as their tax ID. How will their privacy be protected? What compliance costs will this impose on businesses? Why is Sen. Chris Dodd putting this provision in a housing bailout bill? The bill also includes the creation of a new national fingerprint registry for mortgage brokers. "At a time when concerns about both identity theft and government spying are paramount, Congress wants to create a new honey pot of private data that includes Social Security numbers. This bill reduces privacy across America's payment processing systems and treats every American small business or eBay power seller like a criminal on parole by requiring an unprecedented level of reporting to the federal government. This outrageous idea is another reason to delay the housing bailout legislation so that Senators and the public at large have time to examine its full implications." Simon Brody, Director of Communications for NAGC roundly condemns the idea as well, “National Association of Government Contractors in the interest of privacy and as an advocate of small business find the invasive nature of this provision frightening and the further disregard for this countries smaller companies right to compete fairly in the marketplace equally disheartening.” Article URL: http://www.governmentcontractors.org/articles/a.586.asp © Copyright 2005-2008 The National Association of Government Contractors