Preferred Consumer | Privacy | Anonymity Enemies


Anonymity Enemies: Threats to your Privacy and Personal Information

Know your enemy. That's the first step to winning the fight. So here you'll find information on the parties who are invading your privacy or stealing your identity. Once you know who they are, you can take steps to beat them.

Privacy Threats

  • Insurance companies
  • Unscrupulous employers
  • Direct marketers
  • Internet marketers
  • Charities
  • Credit card companies
  • Catalog companies

How Your Privacy Gets Violated

  • You sign up for a free e-mail account. As part of the registration, you agree to the company's privacy policy that says your contact information will not be shared with any third parties without your consent.
  • The privacy policy does not tell you that the prohibition on sharing your data lasts for only six months unless you request a continuance in writing. So after six months, the company sells your contact information as part of its latest batch of data on 15,000+ new customers. A huge range of companies buy this data, from magazine publishers to adult Web site operators.
  • You begin receiving phone calls, e-mails, junk mail and the like from the parties who purchased your information. You find that short of legal action, it's almost impossible to get removed from some of their lists.
  • Many of the first round of companies who bought your data turn around and resell it to others, creating an exponentially expanding sphere of privacy invasion. Before a year is out, more than 200 marketers and corporations have your data in their files.

Identity Theft Threats

  • Individual thieves who prey on tourists and the unwary, stealing credit cards, listening to credit card numbers read over the phone, stealing wallets to get Social Security numbers, etc.
  • Theft rings who do the same.
  • Postal thieves who steal outgoing mail.
  • Scam artists who pose as telemarketers or charities to get credit card or bank account numbers by phone.
  • Criminal employees of a business who copy your credit card information after a transaction.
  • Unlawful businesses who steal your personal or financial information.

How Identity Theft Happens

  • You place your credit card bill and a $1,000 check in your mailbox for your mail carrier to pick up.
  • Postal thieves cruise by and steal your outgoing mail.
  • They "wash" the "pay to the order of" name from your check and make it payable to "Cash." They then cash the check at a check cashing storefront.
  • With a fake ID and a digitally reproduced blank copy of your check, the thieves write multiple checks on your checking out, cleaning it out in a week.
  • With your credit card number in hand, they may also be able to make unauthorized purchases on your credit card, or use the information to open new credit accounts in your name.
  • You're unaware of the problem until you receive a collections call from your credit card company and bills from accounts you didn't know you had.
  • Your credit card company may absolve you of fraudulent debts, but you get stuck paying some bills, and your credit is damaged for up to seven years.

TIP:

  • Trading personal information is a multi-billion-dollar business. Always assume any company asking for your information plans to share or sell it. Always ask hard questions and if you don't like the answers, don't do business with them.