Protecting Your Privacy
How safe is your personal Information?

Dispelling the myth about consumer privacy

There has been a lot of talk, as well as skepticism, about the seriousness regarding on and off line privacy. Of the consumers who have expressed security concerns regarding on-line shopping they still make the assumption that their personal information is safe if they limit their shopping and business transactions to well established "land-based" businesses. But is consumer's personal information truly safe, even in the hands of well established reputable companies? It might not be as safe as the average consumer might think since many people are totally unaware that even big businesses are selling client's personal information to a variety of third parties and sometimes this information can turn up in the wrong hands.

Consumer Data is Big Business!

Customer information gathering is big business and very profitable. In fact, the more information a company can gather on it's clients the more profitable it becomes. Almost every big business maintains detailed databases of information of the clients they have. This information includes highly personal and sensitive personal information such as home mailing addresses, home phone numbers, credit card numbers, credit reports, dates of birth, social security numbers, drivers license numbers, medical and insurance records and almost all of this information is for SALE.

We are all familiar with the old fashioned way of collecting consumer data. In the past to gather this type of information many businesses included registration cards with the products that they sold which many times included simple surveys. W have all seen them and they were pretty up front and requested basic information about us. We had the option of filing them out or not and the information generated by these surveys was used to compile basic mailing lists. However, with the advances of computer databases businesses are now capable of developing much more complex and detailed client histories. Many giant corporations and businesses like insurance companies or health care industries collect, maintain & sell very detailed information about us. In most cases we are not allowed to view any of the information that they have accumulated about us. These databases are considered assets of the company that can be transferred, sold, traded and even rented, yet we as consumers have no rights to view, edit or even know of their existence! To understand the limits of consumer privacy rights: On line privacy rights.

Due to the rise in identity theft everyone needs to be more concerned with any sale or transfer of consumer information. Individuals should have the right to know about ANY information that is being bought or sold about them no matter what type of industry, yet the general public is not informed. Unfortunately, until the laws are changed we do not have this option except in certain states. It is our view that all consumers should be notified and allowed to review any information that might be on file about them, especially if it might be transferred or sold.

Spyware, an additional concern:

In addition, many people on the web don't seem to know or care that advertisers are including spyware inside of other software products that people download each and everyday. When told many consumers express statements that it really doesn't matter to them that advertisers monitor what sites they visit and accept at face value that the extra components will only transmit targeted advertisements based on their web surfing history. To some extent this is true, most ad supported software do go to great lengths to find out what we want and where we surf for this very reason, however are they just gathering demographic information or are they gathering more detailed information? This is a hard question to answer for the simple fact that they will not disclose this information and denials rebound across the internet that they ever gather detailed personal information at all.

** Spyware & Adware Test Scan ** If you are viewing this site with Internet Explorer and see an alert displayed here then it is an indication that your computer is infected with one or more spyware programs that we can scan for. If you do not see any alert displayed in the center of this notice then our scan did not detect any of the 122 spyware programs we can scan for, however, there are still many other programs out there that we can not yet scan for. Please note: Currently we can scan for a 122 distinct spyware programs that can effect PC users and the alert will only be display if a specific targeted program is identified. Unfortunately, we are limited to finding only certain types of spyware and there are many other forms of spyware and adware that we can not currently test for. In addition, our test scan does not work well with NetScape or other browsers, if you suspect that you might have spyware on your computer please feel free to check this page while using Internet Explorer. Also, if you have a Personal FireWall installed it may interfere with our ability to scan your computer for Parasite Adware and Spyware.

Can we fully trust these denials?

Based on many expert reports and a number of recent legal actions they are collecting much more detailed personal and identifiable information than the general public knows or realizes. Yet, in spite of that they continue to deny that they are gathering detailed personal information. There in lies the problem, since they repeatedly deny gathering information the general public has no idea of what is collected let alone what is being done with this information. Currently there is no real restrictions regarding this except that they are encouraged to have and maintain a privacy policy - the wording of which in most cases can be vague and misleading. Our question is just how far should they be allowed to go!

Are Our Concerns about Spyware Valid?

Stop and think about this...

A consumer finds an interesting software bargain and downloads it. During the installation process they are asked for their name, email address, home address, phone numbers and/or credit card numbers for registration purposes all of which they readily comply with. Once the software is installed it uploads that information to the software manufacture and the registration is complete. Yet in the background without the consumers full knowledge of the software's capabilities additional programs were also installed. As soon as the consumer signs on these add-on programs are phoning home and the IP address of the consumers personal computer is being assigned a unique identifier ( GUID) and from that point on information is slowly being sent to the marketing or advertising company regarding many of the consumers actions. Once installed, in addition to knowing what books the user likes to read and what web sites they like to visit, they also know about the on line subscriptions the user might be getting filled, what medical information they are searching for, what new jobs they are trying to get, what school they are planning to attend, what courses they are interested in, they even know the consumers vacation plans right down which flight they are planning to take, what hotel the user will be staying as well as what time their plane will land! That is a tremendous amount of information for a total stranger to have with out the consumers knowledge!

As the internet has grown and developed newer and more intricate capabilities so to has the spyware industry grown and evolved with it's capabilities. They are not just checking to see which web sites we visit, they are now transmitting data on our search queries and key strokes and monitoring our on line banking -- all without our knowledge! Yet the average web surfer takes a cavalier attitude assuming that none of this is happening. As a general rule consumers are expected to be passive and gullible and believe that companies such as eZula, Gator, DoubleClick, Radiate and all they other spyware marketers are not amassing intricate detailed information about us.

Samples of Businesses Abuse of Your Privacy

There have been a number of recent cases in the news regarding big companies trading, selling and gathering our personal information. Almost ever month a new case comes into the spotlight. Here is just a sampling of some of recent cases that have gotten their names in the court records:

As recently as September 2003
A group of passengers has sued JetBlue Airways for passing their personal information to a Defense Department contractor.
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,60551,00.html

In August of 2002 The state of New York sued a high school surveying firm for allegedly tricking students into providing names and other personal information for sale to direct marketers on a broad scale. Teachers and students were told that the information would be provided to colleges and universities to help students gain admission and financial aid. However, the data was sold not only to colleges but also to direct marketers of credit cards, magazines, music videos, cosmetics and other products.

In November 2001 A lawsuit was filed against Sears, Roebuck and Co. for allegedly violating its policy of not renting or selling customer information to anyone outside Sears' family of businesses. Source: "Sears Credit Card Holders Sue over Data Sale," Chicago Tribune, 11/1/01.

In August of 2001 the Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly halted Essential.com Inc., a bankrupt communications and energy services Web site, from selling personal information on its 70,000 customers. Source: "Web Site Restricted From Selling Customer Data to Third Parties," Jennifer Disabatino, Computerworld, 8/10/01.

In May 2001 EPIC, a privacy rights group, filed a complaint with the FTC against eTour.com, alleging the company violated federal and state consumer protection laws when it sold its customers' personal information to AskJeeves.com, an online search engine. Sources: "eTour.com Data Sales Violate Policy - EPIC - Update," Brian Krebs, Newsbytes, 5/29/01 and "Privacy Fears Over eTour Deal," Andrew Heavens and Stephanie Kirchgaessner, The Financial Times, 5/24/01.

In April 2001 Amazon.com and Alexa settle the terms of several class action lawsuits whereby Amazon & Alexa had gathered personal information through Alexa search tool eZbubbles this information included such information as home addresses, email accounts, social security numbers and other personal information. Sources: "Amazon Unit to Pay in Privacy Settlement," Douglas F. Gray, IDG News, 4/27/01.

In February 2001 Network Solutions and VeriSign began to increase their efforts to sell marketers the information gathered when a company registers a Web address and domain name. The data being sold includes the company name, street address, telephone number, and e-mail address gathered through the registration process. Sources: "Network Solutions Selling Database Info," Margret Johnston, IDG News Service, 2/16/01. and "Network Solutions Offers Its Database Of Domain-Names to Marketing Firms," Thomas E. Weber, The Wall Street Journal, 2/16/01.

Also in February 2001 Radiate Settled as Spyware Class Action Lawsuit because they monitored the users without their knowledge or permission. Sources: "Radiate Settles Spyware Class Action", InternetNews, February 28, 2001.

In September 2000 the Missouri's attorney general filed a lawsuit against Internet retailer More.com, saying that the San Francisco-based Internet retailer violated its privacy policy by sharing customer data with a third party. Source: "More.com Is a Big Mouth, Missouri Says" By Keith Perine, TheStandard.com, Sept 15 2000

(Please see our Legal News Archive for additional cases that have been in the news and links to the news stories above.)

Is there any wonder that telemarketers and spammers get our email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses let alone the recent rise in identity theft!

What about our rights?

To make matters worse the FTC has not made privacy on or off line a priority except in the case of children's privacy rights. They take a much stronger and aggressive stand on advertising disclaimers then they do privacy issues. The FTC does not mandate that a business have and maintain a privacy policy they only "strongly encourage" them to have one! If a company does not have a privacy policy the FTC will not step in (unless it is related to children) and their position has been that if no policy exists there is no violation no matter what a business is doing to gather or sell information. In fact, they generally only step in if a company has a privacy policy on record. Unfortunately, in many instances where a business has be caught misusing our information the FTC has been willing to drop charges against a violator if the violator amends their privacy statement and promises to not misbehave again.

On the bright side the Senate and Congress has taken an interest in consumer privacy! There have been a number of new privacy acts up for legislation. To find out about additional information on recent legislative actions please see our Legal Information section. Needless to say, Big Business are actively fighting and lobbing against any attempts to regulate, monitor or police what they do with OUR personal information! We hope that you will take the time to contact your state senators and congressmen to let them know that we need these proposed legislation's passed.

Written by Debbie St.Clair
UnwantedLinks.com
Reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

 

Please take a moment to write to your congressmen about protecting your privacy and passing stronger anti-spam laws!
There are number of new laws pending without your support they will not get passed. Let your congressmen know that we want stronger privacy protections. For more information see our legal section.

Related Information

Protect your identity as you surf
By Neal Brandstetter
(8/14/01)
The Internet is a dangerous place, full of profiteers who sell your personal data to information brokers and cunning criminals who have nothing better to do than steal your Social Security number, obtain credit cards in your name, go on spending sprees, and ruin your credit rating. So whether you're shopping at Macys.com or chatting with your buddies over ICQ, you'll need to take certain precautions to keep your personal info from falling into the wrong hands.
http://www.cnet.com/internet

Consumer Internet Privacy Enhancement Act.
http://www.techlawjournal.com/
HR 237 IH, Consumer Internet Privacy Enhancement Act.
Sponsor: Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA).
Date Introduced: January 20, 2001.
Source: Library of Congress.

Consumer Internet Privacy Enhancement Act
(Introduced in the Senate)
This is a downloadable PDF File

http://www.techlawjournal.com/
(January 24, 2001) Reps. Eshoo and Cannon introduced an online privacy bill in the House. It would prevent a commercial web site operator from collecting personally identifiable information from users of the web site unless it first gives notice of what information is collected and how it will be used, and gives the users the opportunity to limit the use of that information.

Spyware Control & Privacy Protection Act of 2001
The Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act would uncloak so-called spyware programs that use encrypted codes to monitor the activities of unsuspecting computer users and share the personal information with advertisers, telemarketers or other businesses. Senator Edwards proposed the bill in 2000, but Congress failed to act on it before finishing business late last year. (Still Pending)
http://www.hipaadvisory.com/news/
http://www.hipaadvisory.com/news/
http://www.senate.gov/~edwards/

Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act of 2001
(Introduced in the Senate)
This is a downloadable PDF File

 

Write your Senators & Congressmen

Senator John Edwards Introduces
'Spyware Control Act'
http://www.senate.gov/~edwards/

Offical US Senate - State listing of US Senators
http://www.senate.gov/senators/

Alphbetacal listing with emails for US Senators
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm

Find & Contact your US Congressman
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Interesting Links

Richard M. Smith, cybersecurity consultant - from an open on line discussion
http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/

Cybersecurity and You: Five Tips Every Consumer Should Know
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

A Cybersecurity Primer: Links and Resources for Computer Users
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

A Short History of Computer Viruses and Attacks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Key Players in U.S. Government's Cybersecurity Efforts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

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