Alabama Food Stamps routed from Arizona to India

Date: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 1:21 PM

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The amount of private data on US citizens that is being shared by foreign
countries is increasing at an alarming rate. Sen. Richard Shelby seems to be
one of the few voices of reason that oppose this type of outsourcing.

The Scottsdale, Arizona company that routes the phone messages to India has
some listings in the LCA Database at www.ZaZona.com/LCA-Data

I'm not a history buff but I assumed that slave owners of the past would
never be stupid enough to share their personal data with their slaves. I
went to a few web pages that changed my view on this.

http://www.interlog.com/~gilgames/society.htm
Roman Social Order and Democracy
"Many slaves were raised as apprentices, craftsmen, accountants,
shop-keepers, writers, teachers, messengers, and general labourers
(including in such terrible activities as mining)."

http://www.wakeforestcoins.com/slave%20badges/slave%20badges.htm
Slave Hire Badges Charleston, South Carolina
" Human slavery is an unfortunate and regrettable part of American history.
Slavery and slave hire were also common historical practices worldwide and
date back to ancient times. A review of western civilization reveals that
the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans would not have been successful
without the institution of slavery. The early Arabic countries also had
very sophisticated slavery practices. The ancient and Arabic world saw the
bondage of very skilled laborers such as physicians, accountants, lawyers,
and merchants."

http://www.afrc.af.mil/910aw/Black%20History%20Web/slavery_arrives_in_the_english_c1.htm
Slavery Arrives In The English Colonies
"African Americans, slave and free, also worked in a wide variety of
occupations. They were household workers, sailors, preachers, accountants,
music teachers, medical assistants, blacksmiths, bricklayers, and
carpenters, doing virtually any work American society required."

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20020930&Category=APN&ArtNo=209300938&Ref=AR

Alabama food stamp questions routed to India

By JAY REEVES
Associated Press Writer
September 30, 2002

Live in Alabama and have a problem with your food stamp benefits? Maybe
someone in India can help.

Food stamp recipients telephoning a state hotline are unknowingly being
referred to a customer service center in India by an Arizona company that
administers the federally funded program for the state.

Sen. Richard Shelby both revealed and denounced the system Monday, saying
Alabamians who could be answering the calls may instead wind up on food
stamps because of the loss of jobs in America.

"I question the need and propriety of federal benefit programs being
essentially administered from foreign countries," Shelby in a statement.

Shelby asked Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to find out if other states
are using similar, overseas operations. The department had no immediate
response.

Officials with the Alabama Department of Human Resources said about 35,000
calls per month from Alabama are being answered in India by employees of the
eFunds Corp. of Scottsdale, Ariz.

The company received a $13 million, three-year state contract to manage the
food stamp program beginning June 1, said Bob Waits, director of the Alabama
Office of Electronic Benefit Transfer.

Only two companies submitted bids for the work, he said, and none of the 140
Alabama companies that received notices about the contract submitted a bid.

While welfare recipients once received paper food coupons, they now receive
benefits through an account that operates like a bank debit card. The
company processes transactions and provides customer support.

All states are supposed to convert to such a system by this year.

Alabamians with questions about their benefits are told to call eFunds'
toll-free telephone number, which transfers calls to India. The senator's
office found out about the system from a constituent, Shelby spokesman
Andrea Andrews said.

A call to the state's 1-800 line was answered by an automated system on
Monday. A woman speaking English with a heavy accent came on the line after
a few moments, speaking through a poor phone connection.

The woman referred questions to a supervisor, who wouldn't give his location
and referred questions to the state.

State officials periodically listen in on calls and have received only one
or two complaints since the contract began, Waits said.

"We basically monitor for the accuracy of the information given to our
clients and the linguistic skills of the people answering the calls," he
said. "So far we have been very happy."

In a letter to the agriculture secretary, Shelby said hiring companies to
administer state programs is "completely logical."

"However, I am troubled that while the federal government is subject to
numerous `buy-America' provisions those provisions do not apply to federally
funded programs administered at the state level," he wrote.

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