Wednesday, June 29, 2005

... I'll Be Watching You

(With thanks to WSJ.com)

In the last few months, several major companies reported that customer data, including credit-card information, was compromised. The list includes:

CardSystems Solutions

Citigroup

Bank of America

Wachovia

MCI

Time Warner

Ameritrade

Polo Ralph Lauren

Boston College

LexisNexis

DSW Shoe Warehouse

ChoicePoint

CSU-Chico

UC-Berkeley

Tufts University

Northwestern University

Every breath you take

Every move you make

Every bond you break

Every step you take

I'll be watching you.

Isn't it about time we consumers were given some control over the voluminous amounts of information that are disseminated to organizations of which we are told nothing?

Do YOU feel comfortable about this?

Peace.

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is so scary these days how easily our private information is comprimised and hacked into. We are forced sometimes to give out way to much information on ourselves which results in all of the troubles these companies are having. It is not only our fault (yes, it is somewhat, not much but somewhat, our own faults) for giving out willingly our information but is also the company's fault for not protecting their customers information like it is a matter of national security (funny, it really SHOULD be treated like that these days shouldn't it?).

Problem is, if you want to get a credit card, mortgage, car loan or even sometimes an insurance policy or quote these days, you have to give certain, private information out about yourself. It is virtually impossible to get any of those things without doing so. Is there a better way? Probably but nobody has thought of it yet. And the company's taking this information have got to be more aware of keeping consumer information safe from people wanting to use it maliciously.

In summary: No I am not comfortable about it at all.

Brandie