Preferred Consumer | Privacy | Are You Anonymous?

Are You Anonymous?

How Anonymous are You?

Your privacy and your confidential information are under attack by a wide range of forces: direct marketers, Internet list brokers, and of course, scam artists and identity thieves. Research by Gartner, Inc. and Harris Interactive find that 7 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2002, an 81% increase over 2001. Eleven million people were victims of credit card fraud in 2003, and the data suggest that things are only getting worse. Today, unscrupulous Website operators have technology that can track your IP address across the Web, enabling them to follow you as you use the Internet.

In order to protect your anonymity online, you should be taking active steps to keep your information from being used against your wishes. These include:

  • Refusing to patronize sites that do not post clear privacy policies.
  • Protecting your system with firewall and spyware detection software.
  • Not opening or responding to any suspicious e-mail from parties you don't know.
  • Not using Websites that require extensive registration beyond a username and password.
  • Favoring sites that use a double opt-in registration process to ensure that no one can sign you up for a site without your consent.
  • Using services like Bug Me Not to use registration-only sites without revealing personal data.

What is privacy?

Privacy is the Constitutionally-guaranteed right to be free from any agency snooping into your private affairs. With the assault on privacy that's going on today, Anonymous Consumer has assembled a Privacy Bill of Rights for all Internet consumers. You have the right to:

  • Keep your personal contact data confidential.
  • Control your personal financial data.
  • Prevent any personal data from being brokered to third parties without your consent.
  • Have total confidentiality of your medical records.
  • Be free from spam and other unwanted marketing communication.
  • Use the Internet without surrendering your contact information at every turn.

That's what Anonymous Consumer is all about.