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From
TNPC issue #3.13...
Is It Too Late for Privacy? Part 2
by T.J. Lee
June 22, 2000
WOW! Privacy seems to be a very hot topic with TNPC readers. I
received far more email on this topic than I could ever hope to
answer individually so I'll thank all of you for writing, right
here and now.
The trade-off between personal privacy and convenience was the
central issue for many of our readers. Some of you (like TNPCer
Dick K.) have given up the convenience of plastic and eschew
using credit cards just to keep your purchasing habits private.
Interestingly enough, Dick sent me his comments using an email
account with a different name on it. Obviously, he takes his
privacy pretty seriously!
Gary G. says privacy is overrated. "Wouldn't it be great if, when
I walked into a store to buy some clothes, all the styles I like
and in my sizes were automatically moved to the front of the rack
where I could see them more easily? And I'd like my morning paper
to omit everything that I have absolutely no interest in right
down to the coupons and flyers they stuff it with." Or as Glen M.
points out, "Bottom line, if someone is going to spam me, at
least let them send me spam I might be interested in."
What's wrong with a company knowing what you buy? Especially if
it makes future buying easier? When it comes to companies using
this information to target ads and coupons to you based on your
purchases, there's not much of an overall downside. But it's who
else might be using this information, and how they use it, that
causes the most concern.
Consider how information about your personal self can be
extrapolated from your buying habits. This is where someone (a
faceless drone in Human Resources or with your medical insurance
carrier) decides that based on your personal buying habits you're
a risk for substance abuse because you bought one too many six-
packs, or that you're a poor insurance risk because you purchase
mountain climbing equipment or seem to be overly fond of Chunky
Monkey ice cream. Pretty scary stuff and a number of you made
this connection and voiced your concerns. Computers make all this
data mining and extrapolation possible.
In Denver, after a local television station ran a report showing
city workers playing cards and sleeping on the job, the city
fathers came up with the idea to track where every city truck was
using the Global Positioning System satellites maintained by the
military. Denver would spend $1.5 million to put ground receivers
on every city truck so its position could be calculated
continuously. Is this protecting taxpayer dollars from undue
waste or the start of a Big Brother scenario?
Is anyone trying to keep your personal information, well,
personal? The Federal Trade Commission has issued privacy
regulations that could sharply curb the business of selling
what's called "credit header" information from credit reports.
This information includes names, addresses, Social Security
numbers, and other personal details. Credit bureaus routinely
sell this information on about 200 million Americans.
The FTC declared that any personal information gathered by a
financial institution, including names and Social Security
numbers, is "financial data" subject to protections under the new
law that takes effect July 1, 2001.
Social security numbers are a very hot commodity. With your
social security number your identity can be usurped by nefarious
individuals. Valid numbers are also used by people working in the
United States illegally.
But a number of legitimate companies say they desperately need
"credit header" information to update databases for marketing,
fraud prevention, and programs that help private investigators,
debt collectors, and others locate people. This type of ruling
does nothing in so far as your shopping habits or surfing
information is concerned. Still, there are nearly 300 privacy
bills pending in the U.S. House and Senate so this opera is far
from over.
I don't think there are any pat answers as to what can or should
be done to protect our privacy. But I know that everyone should
be aware what personal information is available, and what other
people are doing with that information. We'll be revisiting this
subject again in future issues of TNPC.
You can reach T.J. Lee at:
mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com
Copyright © 2000, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler.
All Rights Reserved.
The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc.
ISSN: 1522-4422
You may reprint an article from TNPC as long as you show the
entire article and include the authors byline, excerpt and
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Is It Too Late for Privacy? Part 2
by T.J. Lee
(This article originally appeared in The Naked PC
newsletter #3.13, subscribe at http://www.TheNakedPC.com)
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