Congressmen should not be at risk of being kidnapped, blackmailed, etc.

Last year there was a fair amount of flack with regards to insider trading by members of Congress and other high government officials.  So Congress passed the STOCK Act which banned members of Congress and senior executive and legislative branch officials from trading based on government knowledge. The law directed that many of these officials’ financial disclosure forms be posted online and their contents placed into public databases. 

Congress did not like this provision but they accepted it because of their perpetual fear of not being reelected.  Time moved on and the insider trading flap has quieted.  Now is the time to gut this law.  So, Congress had a report produced, despite the fact that disclosure has been minimal.  Guess what the report authors found?  Airing this information on the Internet could put public servants and national security at risk.  And this we cannot have.  Thus, working at their normal fast pace,the legislative branch approved the deletion of the disclosure provisions and Mr. Obama signed it.

Some comments by people who know something about Internet security:

•  “Only the risk of going to jail for their insider trading.” James Lewis, the director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

• “They put them personally at risk by holding them accountable.  That’s why they repealed it. The national security bit is bullshit you’re supposed to repeat.” Bruce Schnier, a leading security technologist and cryptographer.