Almost everything is for sale on the Internet - even the Social Security numbers of top US government officials like CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft, consumer advocates warned on Wednesday.

　　The California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said for US26 each it was able to purchase the Social Security numbers and home addresses for Tenet, Ashcroft and other top Bush administration officials, including Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser.

　　That illustrates the need for stronger protections of personal information, the group said.

　　The CIA declined to comment, and calls to the Justice Depart-ment were not immediately returned.

　　Specifically, the foundation is concerned about legislation in the House of Representatives that would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The bill aims to prevent identity theft and improve the accuracy of consumer records, among other things.

　　While backing the overall goals of the bill, the group's executive director, Jamie Court, objected to a portion of it that would continue a current pre-emption of tougher state privacy laws.

　　California Governor Gray Davis signed such legislation on Wednesday, which allows consumers to block companies from sharing personal information with affiliate businesses.

　　"Banks and insurers should not be able to go to Washington as an end-run around the most protective state privacy laws," Court said.

　　Bankers say the industry highly regulates the sharing of personal information. Even so, Diane Casey-Landry, president and CEO of America's Community Bankers, said there is support for a national standard for privacy. She said states adopting a patchwork of different rules could lead to new barriers for consumers seeking loans and increase the cost of loans because of the additional paperwork.

　　The Bush administration has urged Congress to act quickly to strengthen the nation's credit laws and has praised the House bill.

　　The foundation wants to see a strong national law on credit reporting, but Court said that should not preclude states from passing even stronger privacy protections.

　　He said stopping trafficking of information among corporate affiliates is key because some companies have hundreds of businesses under the family umbrella. For example, a banking corporation might have a number of insurance, securities and real estate affiliates it does business with and financial data might be swapped among all.

　　In addition to Social Security numbers, he said some online sites will give out a person's bank account balance for about US300.