You read stories where people have their credit card number swiped, and next thing they know their account has been cleaned out. You hear tale of people taking the social security number of a dead person and passing it off as theirs. You learn of people traveling to foreign places using someone else's passport, or checking things out with someone else's library card, or even entering the temple using someone else's recommend.
Then, you cluck your tongue and shake your head and fill out a long doctor's office form with all your personal information that the doctor will never read and will stow away who-knows-where.
What are you doing with your information? Do you really have ANY idea what happens to it after you share it? When you give a check to the cashier, do you know where it goes? When you swipe your credit card in a vending machine, how do you know your number is still safe? When you give the DMV your entire life and proof of existence in legal document form, what assurance do you have that the employee does not have photographic memory and is not storing up your info in his head and planning to steal your identity?
Well, all right, some implicit trust in the innate goodness of human nature is required for you to retain your sanity and not dig yourself a hole to hide in. You must realize that in this world, you can't very well keep your identity entirely safe and still live a normal life. But be wise. I would recommend two steps for both those disseminating information and those requiring it. Don't give out or take in more information than is absolutely necessary for the service being rendered, and once that information has been shared, ensure that it will be kept safe.
Is the information necessary for the service being rendered? If a field is optional in a form, why fill it in? If the doctor does not require you to sign a statement, why sign it? If the site does not require you to use your primary e-mail address, why not use a secondary one or make up a fake one? If the information being asked for is only recommended and not required, consider carefully whether or not them having it would be beneficial to you, and whether or not you would feel comfortable if that information was accessible to anyone. Then, make your choice accordingly.
Once the info has been shared, is it safe? If you are buying something on the internet, are you using something secure like PayPal, or are you typing your credit card number anywhere you see a cursor? If you are using online banking, do you make sure you have a secure server connection first? Do you make sure you shred old bills and bank statements before you throw them in the trash? Do you look up unfamiliar sites that you want an account on to find out if they are safe before sharing all your personal information with them? Do you have a secure password with more than seven letters, and other parts like numbers, capitals, punctuation and spaces? Do you make sure that you don't use the same password for your e-mail address as you do for an an account on an untrusted website that requires you to sign in with your e-mail and a password, so they don't have all the info they need to access your e-mail? When you are sharing information, even if it is minimal, you need to be careful about who you are sharing it with unless you are OK with the whole world knowing it.
OK, here are a couple of examples to shiver you right out of your fuzzy socks. Real people. Real stories. Muahaha!
My ward made a Facebook page. The password was HACKED. The worst that happened: the password had to be changed. Inconvenience.
My sister's medical records got transferred to the U of U hospital. 2.2 million records were STOLEN. The worst that happened: my sister's info was taken. Lasting uncertainty.
I went to vote for BYUSA president on campus computer. I was about to place my vote when it dawned on me that I hadn't been asked to authenticate. Danielle Somebody-or-Other had forgotten to log out. I almost STOLE somebody else's identity. The worst that happened: Danielle Somebody-or-Other almost voted for BYUSA president. Surprise.
So, bottom line is, unless you want someone else controlling your identity, protect your personal information, folks! Identity theft can happen to anyone. Just be smart.
No comments:
Post a Comment