Friday, November 03, 2006
Privacy Issues
Privacy is something guaranteed to citizens of the US. If you have read past posts you know that right to privacy is being bombarded by the government in many ways. Some folks are striking back and making attempts to keep some private things private. One such place iswww.poundprivacy.org.
They are not fighting RFID or anything like that, they are on the level of Internet privacy. Since the Internet is one of the tools used to collect all kinds of personal information I view this as imperative to educate yourself about, and take action to protect your privacy.
This is not a new idea, there are all kinds of software programs designed to find and stop and rid your home computer of information gathering "cookies".
http://www.poundprivacy.org./ is an ongoing privacy campaign. They have a letter for you to send to the big 4 search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft,and Ask ) requesting the use of "# privacy" as an operator to stop the collection of information about what you are searching. This, by the way can be qualified to NOT include searches for child pornography or other criminal related activities. (In other words it is not designed nor intended to aid criminals, it is designed to protect the right to privacy we are supposed to have as Americans.)
If you happen to be an AOL user, you might have been among the hundreds of thousands who's personal data, linked to their IP address, was made public. AOL is sort of the tragic comedian of Internet providers, and this faux pas has got to be one of the best contenders for idiot actions of the year.
The way "# privacy" would work, is you would enter it after your search term in the search engine, which would key the engine not to associate your IP address with the search, (unless the search was somehow linked to criminal activity.. it is important to remember this is not to aid and abet criminal activity, it is for personal privacy we are supposed to have in this country.)
When you think about it, medical and other organizations have strict rules about how and when they can share personal information.. search engines don't have any such constraints. This information can be gathered, and used freely by sales people (in its least invasive and least alarming aspect)
OK, here is an example. I did a search about diabetes. I have a mother who is non-insulin dependant, and a cat who is insulin dependant. Since that search, address to me in my name I get mail trying to sell me diabetic care supplies, cures, books etc.. all targeting diabetics. I am not diabetic, so where would they have gotten my name and address? From the search engines that collected data about me during my searches.
Not bad enough to warrant action? How about this, we now get phone calls asking to speak to "the diabetic person" of the household.
Now, the first few calls I just said "No, you cannot talk to the diabetic in the household" or "No". They kept calling. I think I even started to recognize voices. Mom is pretty much hard of hearing and can't deal with the telephone, and the cat can't talk.. well... cept to say meow... but he's gone deaf now anyway.. so here is what I did that finally stopped the calls.
I would say you want the insulin dependant or the non-insulin dependant?
they would say one or the other.
If they said dependant, I would ask them why they wanted to talk to a deaf cat? If they then changed to the non dependant, I would say she's pretty much deaf too.
Eventually, the calls stopped. Don't want to have the fun I have had with this? Then I would suggest you get over to www.poundprivacy.org and send that letter to the big 4, they make it really easy. And you don't need to worry, they don't collect your information, they don't even store your email addy for more than 24 hours to get your voice heard by the search engines.
They are not fighting RFID or anything like that, they are on the level of Internet privacy. Since the Internet is one of the tools used to collect all kinds of personal information I view this as imperative to educate yourself about, and take action to protect your privacy.
This is not a new idea, there are all kinds of software programs designed to find and stop and rid your home computer of information gathering "cookies".
http://www.poundprivacy.org./ is an ongoing privacy campaign. They have a letter for you to send to the big 4 search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft,and Ask ) requesting the use of "# privacy" as an operator to stop the collection of information about what you are searching. This, by the way can be qualified to NOT include searches for child pornography or other criminal related activities. (In other words it is not designed nor intended to aid criminals, it is designed to protect the right to privacy we are supposed to have as Americans.)
If you happen to be an AOL user, you might have been among the hundreds of thousands who's personal data, linked to their IP address, was made public. AOL is sort of the tragic comedian of Internet providers, and this faux pas has got to be one of the best contenders for idiot actions of the year.
The way "# privacy" would work, is you would enter it after your search term in the search engine, which would key the engine not to associate your IP address with the search, (unless the search was somehow linked to criminal activity.. it is important to remember this is not to aid and abet criminal activity, it is for personal privacy we are supposed to have in this country.)
When you think about it, medical and other organizations have strict rules about how and when they can share personal information.. search engines don't have any such constraints. This information can be gathered, and used freely by sales people (in its least invasive and least alarming aspect)
OK, here is an example. I did a search about diabetes. I have a mother who is non-insulin dependant, and a cat who is insulin dependant. Since that search, address to me in my name I get mail trying to sell me diabetic care supplies, cures, books etc.. all targeting diabetics. I am not diabetic, so where would they have gotten my name and address? From the search engines that collected data about me during my searches.
Not bad enough to warrant action? How about this, we now get phone calls asking to speak to "the diabetic person" of the household.
Now, the first few calls I just said "No, you cannot talk to the diabetic in the household" or "No". They kept calling. I think I even started to recognize voices. Mom is pretty much hard of hearing and can't deal with the telephone, and the cat can't talk.. well... cept to say meow... but he's gone deaf now anyway.. so here is what I did that finally stopped the calls.
I would say you want the insulin dependant or the non-insulin dependant?
they would say one or the other.
If they said dependant, I would ask them why they wanted to talk to a deaf cat? If they then changed to the non dependant, I would say she's pretty much deaf too.
Eventually, the calls stopped. Don't want to have the fun I have had with this? Then I would suggest you get over to www.poundprivacy.org and send that letter to the big 4, they make it really easy. And you don't need to worry, they don't collect your information, they don't even store your email addy for more than 24 hours to get your voice heard by the search engines.
