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How much of your personal information is easily available for sale online
By Adam | November 11, 2006
This article reveals how much privacy you may or may not have online.
“In 1789, nearly every bit of personal information about an individual was kept at home, on paper, and stored as a personal effect,” an article on the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Web site states.
The common perception now is that anyone with access to the Internet can get more information about you than 20th-century military leaders could have ever dreamed-all by knowing something as simple as your name.
Like it or not, your employer, significant other, parents or any other individual willing to plunk down a small amount of cash can obtain a startling amount of information without your knowledge.
The people at USSearch.com claim to offer criminal records, civil lawsuits, property records and even court records.
The frightening part of this is only one of the smorgasbords of “legal” ways to obtain information.
These services offer the ability to look up people by Social Security numbers.
The watershed event in data privacy occurred on Feb.15, 2005, when ChoicePoint, a Georgia-based company that handles credit card transactions, lost more than 160,000 records resulting in a $15 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
Since the ChoicePoint incident, nearly 100 million private electronic records have been involved in data breaches, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
However, this number does not come without a caveat: a 2003 California law that requires companies to notify those who may be impacted by data breaches has increased the reporting of such incidents.
In addition, the 100 million figure may well impact many people a few times over, which could actually increase the probability of identity fraud associated with these incidents.
While we as individuals cannot do much to stop these major breaches, we can protect ourselves from “phishing.”
Phishing is when a site alleges to be legitimate by requesting login or other personal information, but is actually gathering such information for mischievous purposes.
Fortunately, both major browser platforms-Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 and Mozilla’s Firefox 2-include so-called “anti-phishing” detection software which can warn unsuspecting users of such sites.
A widely-used standard, called “Secure Socket Layer” (SSL) is employed by nearly every E-Commerce Web site on the Internet.
When you see the “lock” at the lower right-hand corner (in Internet Explorer) or in the address bar (in Firefox), you know you are using SSL.
The advent of faster, more powerful computers also brings increased strength and durability in the event of an attempt to breach security.
Originally, SSL came with a 40 bit “cypher strength,” which is a measure of the durability of a “secure” connection.
Through the years, the cypher strength has reached an impressive 128 bits, which has yet to be cracked.
Using the protection of a credit card is one good tip most people forget about-if something is charged to your card fraudulently, most credit card companies will foot the bill.
| Availability of personal information on Web limiting privacy SRU The Online Rocket (subscription), PA - … The watershed event in data privacy occurred on Feb.15, 2005, when ChoicePoint, a Georgia-based company that handles credit card transactions, lost more than … |
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Topics: Identity Theft, Personal Finance, Privacy Concerns |