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1. SOMEONE MIGHT USE THE
INTERNET TO STEAL YOUR IDENTITY
ABC News
Report on Identity Theft
Identity-theft
victim loses suit against DMV
2. YOU COULD UNINTENTIONALLY REVEAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF AS YOU MOVE THROUGH CYBERSPACE
Basic
Cookie Demo
Cookie
Tracking Demo
3. PERSONAL INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE TO A WEBSITE MIGHT BE SOLD--OR STOLEN
4. THAT WEBSITE ON WHICH YOU JUST ENTERED YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER MAY BE A FAKE.
5. THE GOVERNMENT MAY BE GIVING OUT YOUR HOME ADDRESS, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AND OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION ONLINE
Lexis-Nexis
Data Privacy Policy
Example: Lexis-Nexis
Tax Assesor Records
Public
Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)
6. FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES AND PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE YOU COULD BROADCAST YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET
7. YOUR COMPANY OR YOUR SPOUSE COULD USE YOUR COMPUTER TO SPY ON YOU
Chancellor Galatolo's Dec
9, 2001 e-mail stated:
"Many of you may have been following the frequent discussions
within our District and in the media regarding employee use of
company e-mail and Internet services. I want to assure you that we
have not, nor will we, monitor your District e-mail and Internet
activity. We are all responsible professionals and will continue to
be treated in that manner. Enough said."
4CNet
Acceptable Use Policy
Spyware
8. A STRANGER COULD USE YOUR COMPUTER TO SPY ON YOU
9. CYBERSTALKERS
10. "WAR ON TERRORISM" INCREASES THE GOVERNMENT'S USE OF SURVEILLANCE ON INDIVIDUALS
Precautions: How to Protect Yourself
1. Install a home firewall and virus protection. Hackers comb the Internet looking for vulnerable computers, in some cases trying to steal credit-card numbers and personal information. Home firewall software such as BlackICE Defender or Zone Alarm can fend off these attacks. You should also install virus protection if it is not bundled with your computer's basic software.
2. Be careful what you give out. Don't send sensitive information, like your home address, phone number and names and ages of children, to strangers over the Internet. Be careful what you put on personal home pages. And keep in mind that any postings you make on Internet discussion groups will be archived, and can be easily retrieved.
2A. If you have kids
that go online, be sure they don't give out sensitive
information.
See: "Teenagers
are willing to give personal information to Web sites in exchange for
free gifts."
3. Don't download anything unless you trust the sender-and the file. Harmless-looking e-mail enclosures can contain spyware. To be safe, never download anything unless you know and trust the sender and have confidence that the file being sent won't hack your computer.
4. Use dummy e-mail accounts. When you fill out online profiles, post messages in newsgroups or give out your e-mail address to strangers, consider using a secondary e-mail account from a free service such as Hotmail or Yahoo Mail. If it gets e-mail bombed, you can drop it and start over. Reserve your primary e-mail account for friends and people you trust.
5. Delete personal information on your browser. Your name and e-mail address may be embedded in your browser. Websites can then take them from your browser and make a permanent record of your visit. To prevent this, you can go into your browser's preferences menu and delete this information or replace it with a false name and a dummy e-mail account.
6.
Opt
out.
Check the privacy policies of websites you visit. Many are "opt out,"
meaning that unless you tell them otherwise, they reserve the right
to share your data with third parties. Opting out can be a chore.
Start with the site's Privacy Statement, and be prepared to wade
through a lot of fine print.
Opt-Outs
7.
Don't accept
unnecessary cookies.
You will probably want
to accept cookies-code stored on your computer that identifies
you-since it's hard to shop, among other things, without them. But
you can reject unwanted cookies by resetting your browser preferences
or using software like Cookie Crusher.
Double-Click
Accepting/Declining Cookies
Cookies
Tutorial (Lycos)
8. Use encryption for sensitive data. Before sending credit-card numbers and other financial information over the Internet, be sure the transfer is encrypted-that is, scrambled to prevent unauthorized access. Protected websites will tell you that the transfer is encrypted, and your browser will usually display a symbol, often a lock, confirming that the transfer is secure.
9. Consider using an anonymizer. Since websites keep a record of your visits and may be able to identify you by name, you might want to hide your identify with anonymizers like www.anonymizer.com. Anonymizers also encrypt the URLs you visit so your Internet-service provider cannot keep a record of them.
10. Clear your memory cache after you surf the Internet. Your computer keeps a memory cache, effectively a log, of sites you visit. Anyone with access to your computer can see your trail. Hide these digital footprints with cache-deleting functions in your browser's preferences or tools menu.
Bottom line: If it has to stay secret, don't put it on a computer hooked up to the Internet.
Web Links:
NPR story on how 9/11 security concerns is increasing privacy concerns (http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/wesun/20011007.wesun.05.ram)
Articles:
"Threats"
& "Precautions" on this page is based on:
Cohen,
Adam, David Jackson, Laura Locke & Elaine Shannon,. "INTERNET
INSECURITY." Time 7/9/2001, Vol. 158 Issue 1, p22,
8p.
Penenberg, Adam L. "The End of Privacy". Forbes, 11/29/99, Vol. 164 Issue 13, p182, 8p, 4c
Books:
Etzioni, Amitai. The Limits of Privacy. New York : Basic Books, 1999.
Garfinkel, Simson. Database Nation : The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century. Cambridge, Mass. : O'Reilly, 2001.
Gelman, Robert B. Protecting Yourself Online : The Definitive Resource on Safety, Freedom, and Privacy in Cyberspace. San Francisco: HarperEdge, 1998.
Gralla, Preston. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Protecting Yourself Online. Indianapolis: Que, 2000.
Henderson, Harry. Privacy in the Information Age. New York : Facts On File, 1999.
Rosen, Jeffrey. The Unwanted Gaze : The Destruction of Privacy in America. N.Y. : Random House, 2000.
Sykes, Charles J. The End of Privacy. New York : St. Martin's Press, 1999.
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last
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