Do you do online surveys?

[vt_maverick]

Unfortunately it's the people between the individual and their security professionals that most often cause the problems, and in the case of military organizations (in my experience) there is little to no consequence for leaks. For example, when my wife separated from the Air Force, she was supposed to receive her mobility folder, which contained essentially everything that uniquely identified and documented her time in the service. That included dog tags, DNA registration, comprehensive medical history, and complete financial record. When she went to pick it up she was informed by a young airman that approximately a third of her squadron's mobility folders had been lost, and that they assumed they were accidentally shredded. Subsequent inquiries up the chain yielded no result, and is often the case in the military, an E-3's complaint just doesn't receive as much attention as that of an O-6. She was basically told not to worry about it.

A year later the office contacted her to ask why she had never picked up her records. Apparently after a year of being missing, they had magically reappeared. And the best part was that the current staff denied that they had ever been lost. So it makes you wonder, what happened during that period of time? Think those legal protections will ever stop that kind of thing from happening? IMHO, not while 19 year-olds are the ones doing it (I know I know, there are tons of responsible 19 year-olds in the service who do a great job for their country, but there are a significant number of screwballs too.) and while you have line management who refuses to ensure there are consequences for mistakes.

So while I agree with you that in principle the government affords us more protection under the law, in reality I think the risk ends up being about the same.

[Stephen Biko]

So while I agree with you that in principle the government affords us more protection under the law, in reality I think the risk ends up being about the same.

Again - its the difference between systemic and one-offs. The law prevents them from designing a system that abuses that information - no way would they be able to implement a program of selling that information to anyone and if an attorney wanted access to the information it would require judicial oversight in the form of a subpoena.

[vt_maverick]

Again - its the difference between systemic and one-offs. The law prevents them from designing a system that abuses that information - no way would they be able to implement a program of selling that information to anyone and if an attorney wanted access to the information it would require judicial oversight in the form of a subpoena.

I think we're talking past each other here. All I'm saying is that the probability and impact of identity theft is not necessarily determined by whether the threat can be classified as "systemic" or "one-off." What's the difference between a guy in China hacking into a military personnel database vs. a VA employee accidentally bringing thousands of SSNs and medical records home with him on his laptop? They can both result in the same level of damage, and we're at risk for both all the time. And the reality is that it's much more likely that you'd lose your privacy via a "one-off" mistake made by an insider with ready access to your data.

[ZubrAZ]

I think we're talking past each other here. All I'm saying is that the probability and impact of identity theft is not necessarily determined by whether the threat can be classified as "systemic" or "one-off." What's the difference between a guy in China hacking into a military personnel database vs. a VA employee accidentally bringing thousands of SSNs and medical records home with him on his laptop? They can both result in the same level of damage, and we're at risk for both all the time. And the reality is that it's much more likely that you'd lose your privacy via a "one-off" mistake made by an insider with ready access to your data.

Seriously? You dont see the differrence? Yes, we're at risk at both, But the risk levels are way different in your exmaple.

Yes, most of the personal info gets out of control on a corporate level, and it's not a consumer's fault, but there are still chances that you may get hit because of your personal negligence to minimize your personal protection level and allowing easy access to your personal info.

Here is an easy example: your cedit card info may get stolen from the corporate database. Thief will copy the card and try to use it at the gas station that requires zip code to activate. If your name isnt John Johnson and you are in White Pages - voila! Here is the zip code! But this scenario could be avoided if you ubsubscribed (or whatever you need to do to be removed from their database).

So, once again, the advice here is to minimize the risk on a user-level.

[JHarris1385]

Biko - you can be tracked by your IP address. There are tools and technology and people with time that could pull that from you. That right there, tells your address and...so on... I don't need a link as to how you overcame this either, it can't be stopped.

Your fight to inform those of us who don't sweat this ordeal like you do is near meaningless at this point. This is considering the fact that your efforts have yet converted anyone's prior feelings or thoughts. Lost cause. Tell your niece Niki hi for me.

[Stephen Biko]

Biko - you can be tracked by your IP address. There are tools and technology and people with time that could pull that from you.

It is a trade-off between the effort required and the value received. The problem with your attitude is that you see it as black and white either you have total privacy or you have none. That is absolutely not the case. A modicum of effort yields a large amount of effective privacy.

Hell, in this particular case it doesn't even require any effort whatsoever - filling out surveys and voluntarily handing over your purchase history is where the work is at. You get to keep a fair amount of privacy just by doing nothing.

Your fight to inform those of us who don't sweat this ordeal like you do is near meaningless at this point. This is considering the fact that your efforts have yet converted anyone's prior feelings or thoughts. Lost cause.

So, your point is that people should just shut up because popular opinion - especially uninformed popular opinion - is against it? Wow. Your world-view is absolutely antithetical to mine.

Tell your niece Niki hi for me.

Lol you really think she's my niece? Maybe she's just a calabash cousin, maybe I just picked her because I liked that video she was in. Spreading disinformation is as simple as slipping random falsehoods into innocuous discussions.

But more to the point, even if she were my niece that information is not organized in a systemic fashion the way scanning all of your purchases into a database or filling out surveys will produce. There is absolutely nobody out there that can connect whatever dots link Niki and myself without investing a significant amount of effort.

Privacy - and security in general - is just simply not black and white. You evaluate the risks and make your decisions - but as long as you are ignorant of the risks it is impossible for you to make good decisions.

[ZubrAZ]

it is a proven fact that you need literally few minutes to "fake" you IP, and it becomes 100% untraceable

[JHarris1385]

There are programs. The IP address goes somewhere.

[Stephen Biko]

There are programs. The IP address goes somewhere.

In order of effective anonymity:

1) Internet cafes - paid for with cash
2) Unsecured wireless access points
3) TOR - created by the DoD http://www.torproject.org/

[JHarris1385]

Thank God I don't live like you.

You should be on wife swap.

Then end, I am out.

[Stephen Biko]

Thank God I don't live like you.

You should be on wife swap.

While we are trading insults... No wonder you live the way you do, content with the bread and circuses of television like that.

[vt_maverick]

I am serious. I see no difference.

Risk = Impact X Probability. I submit to you that there is a much higher probability that a corporate level mistake is made than that a hacker successfully breaks into a secure database. You could argue that the impact of the hacker is more significant, although that assumes that the accidentally-lost data doesn't end up in criminal hands.

Look, I'm not saying that you should put your SSN on your business cards, obviously individual responsibility is important. I'm just saying that even if you are responsible you aren't necessarily making yourself significantly more safe.

[Stephen Biko]

While there are a lot of different scenarios each with varying degrees of risk - both the hacking and the sloppy employee are examples of one-offs. Systemic problems are wholesale "legal" distribution of that data - take a look at pipl.com as an example of what you can get for free. Now consider what someone with a grudge whose willing to put up a few bucks can get a hold of. Or what any number of amoral profit-seeking corporations may decide to do with all of that extremely detailed personal data people have volunteered about themselves via surveys.

PS - I'm not in pipl - not because I've asked to have my data removed, just because I take care to avoid handing it out to people who don't really need it.

[JHarris1385]

Pipl=terrible. Zero matches for I.

S.Biko - did you not get my lost cause statement? You have exerted so much effort and received zero gain. It really makes zero sense. This is a thread created to talk about online surveys, not how uptight someone is about being watched/traced/etc/etc/etc. The majority of your posts are near meaningless nor about a VX problem/question/suggestion or anything. I am not going to take the amount of time you have utilized to type and explain my reasonings as it is not worth it. However I will say we all have a VehiCROSS and we like/love them so get off your high chair, take off your bib and drop your schematic approach trying to convert us to think the way you do. Like I said perfect wife swap potential. Your family swapped with the exact opposite, one who enters sweepstakes, uses their computers at home or uses wi fi in non secure areas, shops with loyalty programs, gives their email out to their benefit, drops their business card in the free lunch bowl, does not pay with cash...and so on.

[Stephen Biko]

S.Biko - did you not get my lost cause statement?

Yeah, I also got your "I am out" statement.

The majority of your posts are near meaningless nor about a VX problem/question/suggestion or anything.

I'm sorry, did I just read that right? Are you complaining about non-VX related discussion in the forum titled "Anything Non-VX Related?"

Since three of your last four posts in this thread were hardly more than attempts to personally insult me - how about you try cutting back on that antisocial behaviour?