Identity Theft

Continuing on with the theme of digital identities, this one cried out to be talked about. It's not just websites that are looking toward digital profiles for their target market, now GM has thrown their hat in the ring with a bid to gear roadside advertising to specific drivers by using the information collected by their OnStar system.

You have to give credit where credit is due - it's a very clever idea. But it also represents an admission of the various things that the system is capable of - tracking where you go, where you like to shop, buy your lunch, go to the movies, or (potentially) even who is driving your vehicle, and who is riding in it.

I guess we should have seen this coming some time back, but when the ACLU came out with that YouTube video about ordering a pizza all we could do is laugh. Now it seems there may be more truth to it than any of us ever suspected.

Just had to throw my two cents in here - word on the internet is that Chicago police intend to shut down cell service over the weekend, to thwart protesters who may use the services to organize protests during the NATO meetings.

I read that, and the first thing I thought of (oddly enough) was my mom. She's not in Chicago, but she recently had a new-fangled alarm system installed in her house. "You don't have to worry if someone cuts power" the tech told her, "because it has a backup power supply. And since it runs on cell towers, you don't have to worry about someone cutting the phone lines either."

Security systems run on cell towers, cell towers will be shut off in Chicago for the weekend,  I look to see reports of increased robberies and home invasions. Not that anyone would be able to call 911 if all they have is a cell phone... I guess they'll just have to wait until the NATO summit is over.

Looking at the idea of a "digital profile" I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) used by various police agencies around the country. Sure, they've been around for years on the side of highways, punishing speeders with tickets in the mail, but now they're showing up on police cruisers. And they're building a database of where they've seen you before. Added to the GPS tracking and mobile phone surveillance we've been hearing so much about lately, it looks like yet another type of digital profile that is being collected against your will, without warrant or your consent.

Technically speaking, a license plate is public information. But if someone is tracking your movements, for example keeping a notebook filled with places they've seen your car, it would serve as damning evidence at a stalking trial - and probably put them away for a while. However, if the police are doing it indiscriminately, on everyone, we are lead to believe that it is somehow a good thing?

Anyone who knows me will tell you I've never been fond of double standards. And this strikes me as more of a violation than employers asking for my Facebook password... because I can at least tell them to get bent and refuse.

I've talked a few times this year about the practice of employers demanding employees or job candidates provide access to their Facebook account. The word "reprehensible" comes to mind. But I've taken some fire from a few of you about calling the practice "illegal".

My position has been that various aspects of our personal identity are already protected in other ways, and that a court case would show the interpretation of the law would hold that likewise Facebook passwords are protected. But rather than wait for case law to be made, Congress is apparently going to just put a specific law in place to take care of this.

I know there's a bunch of ruckus lately about the collapse of civilization, a-la Mayan Calendar style; but I can't help but wonder how we're going to address things like this if the world is still here on December 22nd? It may be a good idea to go ahead and put some laws in place to make sure companies and law enforcement aren't trampling everyone under foot.

You know, just in case all the experts are somehow wrong about the Mayan Calendar?

The other side of online identity is the digital profile created by third party trackers. Simply put, this is the "you" online that is pieced together by an electronic "profiler" - much as a psychological profiler works with law enforcement to help them catch the Hannibal Lechters of the world. Only the target isn't homicidal maniacs, it's your attention that's being tracked down.

This digital profile doesn't really lie in your direct control, but you can "rob" the trackers of your personal information with the use of browser add-ons - well, at least for the search engines. Facebook has similar profiling that you don't have nearly so much control over.

Really, what we're talking about here is the evolution of identity to include and encompass our digital selves.

Wake up, Neo. The matrix has you...

With a third of the year gone, I took a look at what's going on in the world of identity theft. What did I find? Well, the word "snafu" came to mind. I heard it when I was in the military, but never got an actual definition. The general feel of it, though, was that things were not going well, or at least not according to plan.

So far, there have been plenty of reports of problems getting an identity theft police report, despite the fact that it is required to take care of pretty much any identity theft issue. Admittedly, public demonstrations have been at an all-time high the past year or so, which has created additional work for our police force, but the need for an identity theft police report is still there.

Also, now that tax time has passed, we are seeing numbers start to trickle in concerning social security identity theft - both in fraudulent taxes being filed, and fraudulent employment. (Yes, when someone else uses your social security number to work, you are expected to pay the taxes on the money they earned in your name.)

So, overall, "snafu" really seems to fit...

There needs to be new protections for our identities - protections that include our online identity.

Social media has given us an easy way to stay connected with our friends and family. Unfortunately, while we share our private lives in cyberspace, we are finding that our privacy online is not protected. People can create accounts and say they are us, but we can't get those accounts closed unless we jump through hoops of fire - and even then nothing is guaranteed.

Laws have lagged behind culture, and we are being taken advantage of by potential employers, identity thieves, even government agencies - none of whom are concerned about our personal privacy. It is obvious that when we look to future laws concerning identity theft and personal privacy, we must include our "digital selves" in the definition.

I have to admit, I spend a lot of time talking about how futile it seems to try and protect yourself from identity theft. Many of you have written me to ask "What can I do about identity theft?" It wouldn't be much of an advice column if I just responded "Nothing."

As your Identity Theft Guide, I must be careful not to "sell" anything from the column - that would be a conflict of interest, plain and simple. But if you want to protect yourself from identity theft, I can recommend that you get an identity theft protection program to cover yourself and your family. You business owners may even think about one to protect your company, since these have become targets of identity theft the past few years as well. And, though I won't tell you which one is best, I can tell you what to look for when you're shopping.

And that is what an advice column should be doing.

You've probably already heard that when you post photos from your smartphone on Facebook, you may be sending your GPS information with it, right? But did you also catch the thing about RFID skimming?

Yup. I've been talking about this for several years with insurance professionals, but most of them have thought I was just trying to scare people. Well, maybe they were right about that, now that I think of it, but the fact is, people should be scared here. While VISA and MasterCard are pushing credit cards you can just wave around to pay for things, identity thieves are quietly walking past you in the mall, and picking up your information without you ever even knowing it. It's almost as if the major credit companies are joining in with the Federal government to encourage the growth of identity theft.

But honestly, we only have ourselves to blame. For instance, this month saw quite a rage over a mobile app that used foursquare (another social networking/sharing site) to help you find single women. [Yes, yes, I know... it's so sexist to cater to men who are looking for an easier way to meet women; but when it comes to discretionary dollars, that's where most men will spend theirs...] Public outcry closed down the application, but nobody stopped to consider that everyone on that network had VOLUNTEERED to be there, and signed a consent agreement.

*sigh* Ah, well. Maybe it's better to let other people determine what's best for us after all, right? I mean, we do keep electing them into office and all that....

I have to admit, I was astonished to read about the recent decision by the Sacramento police force to bypass a parent's right to protect their child's privacy. While investigating the death of 13-year-old Jessica Funk-Haslam, police conducted "interviews" with classmates at the school (making a clear distinction between "interview" and "interrogation") and collected DNA samples. A professor at McGeorge School of Law went on the record with ABC News saying "there's nothing under California law that prohibits DNA collection from consenting minors..."

Apparently, that means California law does not recognize DNA collection as a search, requiring a court order, nor does it recognize that a minor cannot give consent. The story further highlights the trend in law enforcement to do whatever they are not expressly prohibited from doing by law.

It won't take long to recognize in my article that I see this as a gross violation, and another step toward an apparent "police state" that represents a trend growing at an alarming rate. Simply put, as your Identity Theft Guide, I have growing concerns about consumers being allowed the "luxury" of protecting their personal privacy - or the privacy of their children.