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How
To Guard Against
Privacy Theft On The Internet
by Robert K. Heady, editor
Bank Rate Monitor
Are
you banking Online? Getting freebies or entering contests on
the Web? Giving out your Social Security number to any electronic
outfit that asks for it?
If so, don't be surprised
if you get ripped off, defrauded or swindled. No matter how many
"experts" assure you they've whipped the privacy problem
on the Internet, your identity can still be stolen amid the huge
surge in new technology.
It's the most burning
issue in the country right now. And there's no perfect solution
in sight.
Half of all credit
card fraud is traceable to the Internet, according to surveys.
Thefts of Social Security
numbers have soared to more than 500,000 a year.
The volume of calls
to the Federal Trade Commission's identity theft hot line doubled
from March to August of this year.
In a special test of
the government's advanced "scrambling code," it took
a high-tech team less than three days to unlock a secret message
by running 88 billion possible combinations every second for
56 straight hours.
On top of that, a survey
of 2,200 Internet computing systems nationwide showed that 66
percent had potential security vulnerabilities.
Your privacy protection
is peanuts compared with the tech revolution. Even the former
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, John M. Shalikashvili,
had his Social Security number stolen. And it gets worse for
the little guy.
For instance, when
Edward H., a software engineer, recently went to open his first
account at First Union Bank in South Florida, the bank in effect
said, "Sorry, there's someone else in our database with
the same name and Social Security number."
Is there a quick fix
to this scary mess? Probably not. Some consumer-minded congressmen
and women want to pass new privacy laws protecting the public,
but the financial industry is fighting back, saying it would
rather police itself which is a joke. Those same legislators
just launched a Privacy Commission to investigate the situation,
but they admit it will be 18 months before they can come up with
recommendations.
Meanwhile, millions
of consumers have made Faustian bargains with Internet peddlers
by giving away personal data on themselves when they buy merchandise,
get freebies or enter cash contests. Other dubious outfits claim
they will "investigate anyone, anywhere" for you for
a fee as they collect your private data in the process.
If there's no 100 percent
sure way of protecting the rest of your personal life, what can
you do? Use these tips, starting today:
On a Web site, look
for tiny symbols at the bottom of the screen a locked padlock
or a key indicating that the site uses secure technology to protect
vital data such as a credit card number.
Read the site's "Privacy
Policy" to learn what information it's gathering from you,
whether it sells it to other companies and how you can prevent
your information from being sold or shared. Can you "opt
out" by telling them they can't sell your info, or "opt
in" by requiring your permission to do so? Do not deal
with a site if it does not reveal its privacy policy.
Do not transmit
your Social Security number, bank account number or password
via E-mail unless the information is encrypted. Never divulge
your Social Security number to anyone except your employer, bank
or the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies.
No one else has a legal right to know the number.
Check your credit report
at least once a year with all three major credit bureaus (Equifax,
Experian and TransUnion).
Avoid easy-to-guess
passwords. Change your password periodically.
Check your monthly
banking statement for strange charges.
Monitor your "cookies"
hidden text files that shadow your computer movements and create
a profile of where you go on the Internet. To see how cookies
work, visit Privacy.net at www.privacy.net, a consumer protection
site. For how to delete cookies, see www.cookiecentral.com on
the Web.
Report any identity
theft to the FTC hotline at 877-ID-THEFT, and click onto www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
Editor's Note: Robert
K. heady is the founding publisher of Bank Rate Monitor
and is the co-author of the book, "The Complete Idiot's
Guide to Managing Your Money." You can e-mail him at jrnl8888@aol.com.
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