Facebook Backlash Spurs Privacy Movement
Our Recommendation: Create Your Own Privacy Policy
June 2010Facebook Backlash Spurs Privacy Movement Our Recommendation: Create Your Own Privacy Statement
When Facebook announced new features that would send user information to companies such as Microsoft, Yelp, and Pandora, it triggered an intense backlash from users, privacy advocates and government officials.
The world’s largest social networking company responded—after weeks of complaints—by creating easier privacy settings, limiting basic information that’s visible to everyone, and creating user controls in the areas that send data to third-party sites.
Every few months, it seems as if Facebook alters its controls, and the public responds negatively. But the anxiety over the latest dust-up signals a growing movement to preserve a semblance of private life—or at least control over it—in an all-access world. Facebook, clearly worried that advocates will succeed in a push for more government oversight of the company, finally seems to grasp that its loyal users are drawing a line. Click here to read more...
They sit in warehouses across the country, waiting to be sold to anyone who walks in with a few hundred dollars.
The buyer doesn’t only get a used copy machine. He often gets access to documents the machine has copied, scanned or e-mailed—many of which can contain personal identifiable information (PII) such as Social Security numbers and employee records from pay stubs, employee forms, medical records and state IDs.
For an identity thief, it’s a jackpot. And most people—even those who care deeply about traditional computer security—don’t even realize the jackpot exists. Click here to read more...
Case 1: A Phantom Bill: Identity Theft 911 fraud specialist Mark Fullbright recently worked on an unusual fraud case: A collections agency called a man about a Chicago hotel stay four years earlier. Problem was, the man never stayed at the hotel. He’d never even been to Chicago.
The hotel stay was paid through Bill Me Later, an eBay-owned company that offers extended payment services, like layaway, through participating online merchants. The scammer likely used the victim’s personal information to set up an account and make a payment through the service, Fullbright says. Click here to read more...
So you’re getting married. Congratulations! Once the marriage is official, a bride can begin the process of changing her name. Not all brides take their husband’s name, of course. But many do, and now a number of couples hyphenate their two names or create a new one altogether. The key to a successful name change is knowing what to do and when. One false step can make a person vulnerable to identity theft, damage credit and cause trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. Identity Theft 911 fraud specialist Patricia Oliver, newly married, shares tips from our Marriage Identity Services. Click here to read more...
