How Private are You?

The funny thing is that the young are actually more cautious than their elders in one respect, namely revealing identity. They are more inclined to use "handles" - pseudonyms - on-line, even in social networking sites; often, they even use different pseudonyms in different forums, which enhances security. Even when using their own names, they tend to lie about crucial identifying details like date of birth, usually to circumvent age limits on certain types of Web sites. This gives me hope for them. Revealing potentially damaging information about "ehandle123" is a lot less troublesome than saying the same thing about John Q. Public, born Jan. 1, 1960 in Chicago, Illinois, SSAN: 123-45-6789.

On the other hand, they are much too gabby, and often lack an appreciation of just how permanent information on the Net is. They often don't understand that just deleting something from Facebook doesn't mean it actually goes away; it's still in their archives, ready for use by anybody who comes into possession of it, even years hence. If, at any time in the future, somebody is able to connect "ehandle123" with "John Q. Public," everything ever revealed about ehandle becomes a liability for JQP - and there's no statute of limitations.

I belong to the older generation that associates pseudonyms with crime, or at least with criminal intent. I use my own name on-line, which means that my security requires a good deal more work and thought. One trend that really alarms me is cross-linking, e.g. completely unrelated sites that offer you the option of "log[ging] on using your Facebook account." This makes data mining every so much easier, because you are doing the snoops' work for them by linking disparate records together unambiguously. If you don't want to live in a goldfish bowl, you should never do this. Instead, create a separate account for every site you subscribe to. You should fill in only the minimum required fields, and be prepared to lie like a rug if the site asks for potentially harmful information, like date of birth which is needed for identity theft and for effective data mining. I am a man of many birthdays, and so should you be. As for identification numbers - forget it! More rug-like behavior is indicated, and if there is a statutory penalty for not putting in the "right" number, refuse to use that site...period. I never give out a physical home address on-line, and rarely off, since much of what is used offline these days gets put into record systems connected to the Net. Use a post office box, a mail forwarding service, General Delivery...whatever you have to do, but don't let convenience override good sense.

Naturally when I speak in these terms I sometimes get The Look - you know, the one that says you should be wearing one of those funny tunics that laces in back. Oh well.

I agree mostly with piolenc except that I would never use my real name on a blog. I do it when I order something online and I don't like doing it.

I do not consider the internet to be safe and most corporations to extremely lax about protecting peoples privacy, including the privacy of their employees.

We need strict laws to protect us, to prevent use of mailing lists, phone lists, etc but unfortunately in the USA corporations have all the power and the citizens are powerless to protect themselves; because the corporations have payed off the congress to get laws allowing them to stick it to us with no consequences.

A business should not be allowed to contact you via email, snail mail, phone, or any other way unless you specifically ask them to do it in writing, or if they are currently doing business with you. Your home should be your castle and uninvited intruders should not be welcome - and that includes electronic intruders.