Privacy 101: It’s Up to You

by Darity Wesley

"The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life." – Brain Tracy

Every day in the privacy world there is breaking news. From new legislation being introduced to new scams being exposed to data security breaches being announced, we are immersed in a world I envisioned when I started Privacy Solutions 10 years ago – a world in which privacy matters to everyone.

Over the years I have made numerous trips to Capitol Hill to educate our elected representatives on all things privacy like social security number protection and safeguarding the lifeblood of business – the free flow of data. Now there is a new Senate Judiciary Subcommittee for Privacy, Technology and the Law, which will oversee laws and policies governing the collection, protection, use and dissemination of commercial information by the private sector. It is news like this that makes me feel like all of my hard work is paying off now.

The bottom line for consumers as well as businesses is the same as it ever was – privacy is situational. We are all just more aware of it than we were a decade ago. What we are more concerned about now than before is the amount of control we have over our information and its security. We want to know our personally identifiable information is safe and that it cannot be used against us out of context.

The number one way to make sure your information is protected is to be selective in what you reveal. By now everyone ought to know that anything that is on the Internet, including email is not private. It can be dredged up at any future point. You probably also know what expectation of privacy you have in your workplace – most likely none. Check your employee handbook to confirm the policies. If there is no policy there, be sure to inquire.

No matter how much business self-regulation and government legislation we end up with in this flurry of proposed privacy compliance solutions, privacy is ultimately up to you. It is much better if your business takes responsibility for doing the right things as far as website policies and disclaimers and information security. As a person, it is up to you to take responsibility for what you reveal, to whom and on what media. Don’t just expect ‘them’ to take care of everything – be proactive. If you have an opinion on how these privacy discussions should turn out, join the conversation. Now more than ever, we have the opportunity to have our voices heard and become a part of an active democracy. The only way you lose is by not taking personal and professional responsibility for your privacy.

Like this newsletter? Darity offers another newsletter from her new Lotus Law Center published on the 3rd Thursday of each month. To subscribe, please email Lindsay@LotusLawCenter.com with Lotus in the subject line.

Darity Wesley is CEO and Legal Counsel for Privacy Solutions, Inc. a San Diego based consulting firm. Her team of Privacy Gurus® work with you to create policies and procedures to establish the expectation of privacy for your members, clients, customers, prospects, affiliates, associates, employees and vendors. You can reach her at 619-670-9462 or Darity@privacygurus.com, Visit our website at www.privacygurus.com ©2011 Privacy Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. www.PrivacyGurus.com

Privacy 101: You’ve Got Rights

 “The public good is in nothing more essentially interested than in the protection of every individual’s private rights.” William Blackstone

 We make many choices every day about protecting our privacy and keeping our identities safe. That statement may sound a bit alarmist, but after you become aware of how many opportunities we are offered to volunteer our personally identifiable information, you will realize that you have the right to control what information you give and to whom.

BANK ACCOUNTS

A longtime newsletter reader told us a story last month of how he stood up for his rights. He had just purchased a home and the homeowner’s association asked him for his bank account numbers, social security number and other personal information. He asked them why they needed it and the response was that it was to run a background check and it was part of the procedure for being accepted into the association. He reluctantly said yes and then asked them what they were going to do with the information once that process was complete. The answer was that it would be in his file. That wasn’t good enough for our reader; there was no guarantee of security for his very important personally identifiable information. He requested his file back when they were finished accepting his application. They gave it to him.

DRIVER’S LICENSE u

Another reader wanted to return an item to a department store. In order to do so, the store requested her driver’s license. When asking the clerk why it was needed, she said she didn’t know but no refund would be given without it. Our reader kept the item rather than give up her driver’s license information.

You also need to be aware of giving away your bank account numbers as they may be used for nefarious purposes. Recently an IT tech in a NY bank pleaded guilty to data theft and fraud for stealing more than $1,000,000 from charities by creating dummy accounts using personal information stolen from co-workers.

SOCIAL SECURITY u

As far as your social security number goes, just because a form asks you for it, do not Put it there unless someone tells you why they need it since your social security number is not necessary for identification purposes.

MEDICAL FILES u

Did you know you might have a consumer medical file with the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) (http://www.mib.com)? The MIB is a central database of the medical information of approximately 15 million Americans and Canadians. The file functions like a credit score for health. About 600 insurance firms use the services of the MIB primarily to obtain information about life insurance and individual health insurance policy applicants. The MIB is a consumer-reporting agency subject to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and does not have a file on everyone. If do you have an MIB file, you will want to be sure it is correct. You can obtain a free copy once a year by calling (866) 692-6901.

EMAIL CONFIRMATIONS u

Another important way to maintain your privacy is to not respond to even the most reasonable sounding requests for confirmation of your account. Opening these emails will often either give you a virus or gather information about you. I recently received several requests from ‘UPS’ saying that our shipment was undeliverable. The ‘from’ email address looked okay but a couple of things looked suspicious: first I couldn’t recall sending anything on those dates and there was an attachment on the email. Attachments can be a big tip-off that an email may be bogus. My next step was to check out Snopes (www.snopes.com),  the scam and urban legend reference page. Sure enough, that scam was in there so I deleted those emails right away and reminded everyone in the office to be careful.

It can be tricky to navigate the information jungle out there so please be sure to stay aware and alert about who really needs your information. Make it a conscious decision to give it to them, rather than just going along with what you are asked to provide.

Darity Wesley is CEO and Legal Counsel for Privacy Solutions, Inc. a San Diego based consulting firm. Her team of Privacy Gurus® work with you to create policies and procedures to establish the expectation of privacy for your members, clients, customers, prospects, affiliates, associates, employees and vendors. You can reach her at 619-670-9462 or Darity@privacygurus.com, Visit our website at www.privacygurus.com ©2010 Privacy Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. www.PrivacyGurus.com