Top issue on Hill: privacy

Real or imagined, Utah lawmakers spent much of the 2004 legislative session looking under the metaphorical bed for monsters and boogeymen. And we're not talking lobbyists.

Instead, it was the marvels of technology and the threats they may pose to Utahns' privacy that became a dominant issue on Capitol Hill, from Utah's participation in the controversial super-computer database MATRIX to targeting so-called spyware on private computers and a statewide "do not e-mail" registry for children.

"Technology turned out to be the sleeping giant of the session," says Senate Majority Whip John Valentine, R-Orem. "The number of bills that addressed major technology issues . . . I was totally shocked."

Utahns generally share lawmakers' concerns over the potential intrusion of technology into their private lives. A Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll has found that 45 percent of those questioned somewhat or strongly opposed Utah's participation in MATRIX, which combines confidential state databases with hundreds of public databases to help catch criminals and thwart terrorism. Only 33 percent were strongly or somewhat in favor.

MATRIX involves data-sharing by several states under a program funded through federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security.

But privacy concerns — and the fact former Gov. Mike Leavitt signed Utah up for the program without telling lawmakers or the public — prompted Gov. Olene Walker to suspend the state's participation pending a task force study of privacy concerns.

Lawmakers introduced a number of bills to curtail the state's participation, but only one made the final cut, a bill that requires all state agencies to report to lawmakers or the governor the amount and nature of federal grants before applying for the funding (to whom they report differs according to the amount of the grant).

Late during the legislative session's last day, lawmakers, at the insistence of Walker, appropriated $81,000 to hire someone to monitor federal grant programs, such as MATRIX. There was no attempt by the Legislature to appropriate any money to continue the state's participation.

"The fact (MATRIX) isn't funded raises serious questions about whether we will ever be a part of MATRIX again," Walker said early Thursday after the session ended. The task force will begin meeting on MATRIX later this month.