Stealing Information for a Living and it's like Taking Candy From a Baby

Disclaimer: All the hereby thoughts and views are my expressed opinions. They are in no way a reflection of my character. My opinions are not meant as personal attacks so please do not view them as such.

In a culture where information is held in such high esteem, why is it that we are displaying our whole life, our name, our age, where we live, and other personal information on websites such as FaceBook and MySpace? If you googled your name, what would you find? Anything you wouldn't want people to know or see? Chances are, they already have found that drunken picture you were trying to find. However in the Barbie world, where everyone cares so much about how others view them, it is not a surprise that you can pay web services to routinely check your personal information on the internet to ensure no one can see anything you don’t want them to. Nonetheless, in today's society, Internet privacy is as real to me as a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

For the sake of simplicity, privacy can be defined as a false sense of security that is manifest through the appearance of being excluded from the view of others. It is temporary and relatively short-term, for someone, somewhere can see wat you are doing. Whether this exclusion is in a physical or spatial sense does not matter, but it essential that you keep in mind the nature of privacy as a commodity; easily tradable and highly commercial. According to a 2006 MSNBC poll, a majority of American’s are concerned about the fleeting nature of privacy. (Sullivan, ln. 9). Sullivan (2006) describes online security as transient and easily traceable due to the misuse of cookies and the onslaught of spyware (ln. 6).

If there were a program or product capable of safeguarding you and your family from hackers, on-line predators and identity theft, would you buy it? Of course you would. It would be stupid not to. However, no such security system readily exists and if there were you can bet it would not be a Microsoft product. Accordingly, such a program would limit the already slim majority of mundane internet tasks that we perform daily such as e-mail, instant messenger, online shopping, and online banking.



While it can be argued that due to the presence of a shifting and overlapping culture, one must learn to adapt to the new technology. This is rightly so, however that does not mean that we should go to every Tom, Dick, and Harry’s website and supply them with our email and mailing address. That is the equivalent of taping a “kick me” sign on your back. On the other hand not going on the internet at all to maintain your privacy is just about as useful as not going outside. If privacy to most people is simply being left alone, then why don't they go strand themselves on a deserted island. There is nothing more solitary than that. And if I may, I will correlate complete privacy to living in a bubble becase it undoubtedly leaves you socially disadvantaged.

While I am not one to go sharing my social security number over the internet, there are people stupid enough to do so. I cannot attribute their action to a logical thought process; therefore I must rely on base rate information to conclude their actions as stemming from a false sense of security.

I have never been a victim of identity theft nor do I know anyone who has. I am conscious not to give out my personal information unless it is absolutely essential. Today’s economy is characteristic of highly specialized advertising and marketing techniques. Consumer’s are no longer targeted solely in stores, but dorectly at home. The sole reason for the accrual of personal information, i.e. email and mailing address, your phone number, is to send you advertisements and get you to buy products you don't need. What a shock. Yet I digress.

I would first like to point out that no one can force you to surrender personal information, perhaps at gunpoint, but not in a retail store nor on the interent. But if you want the latest designer fashion straight from Paris, you may just have to type in your credit card number. Therefore, online shopping is like a mutual give and take that is conceeded by a sense of security stemming from big business. For example, you don't go to the mall expecting to have someone steal your wallet just like you don't shop online with the expectation that you will have your identity stolen. However, you can have your purse or wallet stolen at the mall just as easily as your personal information over the internet. How secure is online banking and online shopping. If someone was just that motivated, what stands in the way between your information and their greed other than a firewall and pass code encryption? TO make matters worse, what is stopping companies from selling or misplacing your information as has been done before by AOL, Second life, and Yahoo ("Internet Privacy," 2007)? Nothing. But the word is trust. We trust that our information will not be stolen for we assume that the company has set up a safe and secure website through which to do business. According to a 2006 Scam Response Report, "despite consumer advocate and media's best efforts, consumer's still respond to scams" (p. 1). Also, it would interesting to know that a study was conducted that examined several businesses and their level of activity in notifying customers of potential scams. To name a few, these companies ranged from Bank of America, PayPal, eBay,Auto Trader, and CitiBank. IN the end, out of all ten companies that were surveyed, seven of them were found to insuffiecently warn consumers about potential frauds ("Scam Response Reprt", 2006, p. 3)

Well, I guess we just have to hope that those people who we give our information t have enough common sense to know what to do with it. Absolutely NOT! You have to be diligent. If it feels like a scam, it probably is a scam. Use your better judgement. Just because it has all the bells and whistles doesn't mean it is legitimate.

References

Internet privacy. (2007, February 11). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:48, February 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internet_privacy&oldid=107292821.

Scam Response Report. (2006). Retrieved February 15, 2007 from http://www.idtheftcenter.org/2006scamresponse.pdf

Sullivan, B. (2006) Privacy Lost: Does Anybody Care? Retrieved February 15, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/print/1/displaymode/1098/