Big Business would like to know everything about you . . .
so they can use it against you! And sell it to others without
letting you know what they know or who they're selling it to!

On first thought, you might ask "why should I care what others know about me?" The truth is, we all have facets of our private lives that we would rather be kept private. More importantly, there are facts about our personal preferences, buying habits, medical conditions, professional and political associations, etc. that Corporate America and government agencies would love to know about us. And many of the uses they have in mind for this data are often not in our best interest! Consider:

• As part of accepting a new job, you apply for inclusion in your company's health insurance plan. However, upon examining data gleaned from your "confidential" medical records, DNA tests, X-Ray interpretations, etc, the insurance company finds something it thinks is a potential health risk and denies you coverage. And you never know why!



• As part of a background investigation conducted on behalf of a prospective employer, a detailed review of your buying habits compiled by an investigator turns up evidence of any number of situations (high consumption of alcohol or over-the-counter drugs, tobacco purchases, adult video rentals, dues payments to political or activist organizations whose work the employer doesn't like, etc.) that HR has considered "undesirable." As a result, you don't get hired. And you never know why!



• A government or law enforcement agency, based solely on a review of your spending habits, travel destinations, and professional associations gleaned from a database decides you are a potential terrorist or criminal, and decides to "take you down".

Sound far-fetched? Not really. Companies have been keeping and trading information on us for years. They use it to develop ad campaigns, target mail advertising (better known as junk mail!), and determine what we like to buy so they can make and sell us more of it! However, this data was never much of a privacy issue in the past because each company had only a small amount of information on us, based solely on our dealings with them. And the computer storage and sorting power necessary to collate and sort data from numerous sources was limited to a few very large computers located in companies and government agencies with more important things to use the systems for (usually defense related!). However, with the advent of faster small computers and networks of them, and the ability to connect them real time via the Internet, what once was a Herculean task increasingly becomes easier and easier to do. Look at Google and other search engines, for example. And companies have learned that there are other companies out their willing to pay good money for that small amount of data they have on you. When the buyer brings all those little pieces together, it is absolutely scary what they can learn about you. And infer about you from what they know!

To make matters worse, the people who develop these databases look on the personal information they have collected about you as their property, not yours! In fact, there have been several attempts in Congress to pass laws that would treat data compilations as copyrighted property! The industry argues that it took a lot of work to compile the data, so the compiler should own it! But with today's computers, such compilation is easy to perform, so this argument isn't really valid. Rather, their primary desire is to limit your ability to view or control the data they have on you, so they can continue to profit from it.

So where does all this data come from? Almost anywhere you can imagine:

• When you fill out an application for employment, a bank loan or a new credit card; complete a form to get a license for your car; or register on a Web site to "win a prize", you're giving someone information about you:
  
  
  • Your address and phone numbers
  
  
  
  • Your social security number
  
  
  
  • Your employer's name, and their address and phone number
  
  
  
  • Who you bank with
  
  
  
  • Who you have insurance with
  
  
  
  • The names and ages of your wife and children!
  
  
  
  As part of processing the form, all of the information you provided goes into a database. If the people maintaining that database sell the information, or keep it unsecure enough that hackers (particularly ones working for companies that specialize in gathering data!) are able to gain access to it, then your info is "on the street." And once there, it then gets collated and sorted, and often sold to others again! And again! There is currently nothing in the law stopping a company or government agency from selling or giving out your personal information to others, even if the information being sold is inaccurate, or was obtained illegally in the first place!



• Private detectives, law enforcement officers, and insurance investigators are not above calling companies and government agencies and "sweet-talking" them out of your personal information, usually by pretending to be you. Many companies pay only lip service to phone request security, depending on a readily-found piece of personal information to verify who you are: the "last four" of your Social Security Number, your mother's maiden name, etc. If a hacker knows the password the entire system is open to him. And with the popularity of voice mail systems, the wanted information can often be gotten without talking to anyone!



• One of the more-common ways of relieving you of your personal information uses the Web itself, and the culprit passing around your personal information is usually you! Numerous Web sites will ply you for personal information, purportedly to allow them to "personalize" your visit by targeting content based on your profile with them, or as part of registration to "win" something! Other sites keep track of your habits while visiting, and tailor their responses based on them. This sounds like a good thing, and it would be if that were all the data was used for. However, once again this data is often shared with or sold to others on and off the Web, even more so it seems than with traditional retailers.

So what can you do to curb this troubling behavior? If you are concerned about keeping your private information private, then:

• Write, call or e-mail your favorite Congresscritters today, and tell them you support legislation that puts hard limits on what companies and the government do with your personal information. Also tell them that you oppose legislation that would give database compilers a copyright over databases containing your personal information.



• Don't fill in every block on a form if you don't think the information being asked for is appropriate for the reason you're filling out the form. Just because a form asks for information doesn't mean you have to provide it! If you feel the information is unnecessary, leave it blank. If the person reviewing your form brings it up, confirm that the omission was intentional and question their need to know it. Maybe they'll think twice and remove the offending questions! If they refuse to honor your form with blank fields, do your business elsewhere!



• Think twice about filling out a form on a Web site asking you for personal information. If you do decide to fill it out, only complete the required fields (which are usually marked). And review the privacy policy statements of Web sites you visit, and only do business with those that promise not to share or sell your personal information with other companies.



• Ask the companies you do business with what their policy is on protecting personal information. Do business only with firms that guarantee to protect your personal information.



• Join the Americans for Computer Privacy organization. It's free!. It's members include many major corporations (not just those in the computer industry, although software and hardware companies are well represented!), and numerous groups representing a diverse range of interests including banking, health care, small business, civil liberties, and even law enforcement! They tell an even grimmer tale on their site than I can here, and in much greater detail! And they can put you on an e-mail list that will let you know when privacy legislation needing your support (or efforts to get it stopped!) is on the table



• Visit the Privacy Foundation site and sign up for their newsletter, to keep up on Corporate America's ever-inventive methods for tricking you out of your personal information.
  
  
• Visit the Electronic Privacy Information Center and subscribe to their letter as well. Both organizations cover much of the same ground, but EPIC is more active politically.