Message From jl

Hi Everyone!

WELCOME to all of our new subscribers, this week! We truly appreciate you! "Trade Journal Subscribers are THE BEST!"

This is what happens when you have out-of-town company. I not only had the wrong date on last week's issue - I had the wrong URL for the online version. Sorry! At least, the email version, itself, was correct!

While we're on this subject, PLEASE be sure to whitelist jlscott@i-cop.org. It's a lot harder for me to get a complete issue through the filters than an announcement.

There's just no perfect way to deliver. And, in view of our normal subject matter, those filters are just lying in wait to throw away your copy of most issues.

There IS No Privacy!

I received the following email from an iCop member regarding the story at this URL:

tinyurl.com/qszy52

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When I first heard about the Cisco / Feeva partnership it was the addition of a location tag that the ISP customer would need to opt into. I have reservations about that but can live with it. Although I am very much against a router doing any interception and addition to a data stream for ANY purpose.

"Furthermore, the AdControl tag format is extensible so more information fields can be added for a richer demographic profile."

Now that Cisco are boasting about an expansion to the system I can only say that I will never ever again buy any Cisco product.

The more I learn about how much our data gets sold by the people we think are only selling us a product, the more I start to read the privacy policies with a new eye. Most don't even provide the opportunity to opt out of the 'share your data with partners for marketing purposes' clause that is buried within a paragraph that does not seem to have anything to do with selling personal / demographic data.

In the UK we are beginning to suspect that our data protection laws have only been set up to make it easy for business to sell on our personal data in this way: register that you share the data and you can share it with anybody anywhere in the world.

Regards

Barbara Moore
www.beginner-guide.com
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Barbara has been keeping me up to date on the ridiculous - and serious - problems they've been having in the UK, regarding online privacy. It's all quite complicated, and I'm never sure I know what's happening from day to day.

That's what happens when big - BIG - business starts taking unfair advantage. They have the wherewithal (and money) to KEEP it so complicated, us common folk are simply confused.

In Barbara's last paragraph, she mentions, “register that you share the data, and you can share it with anybody anywhere in the world.”

Yep - and that's EXACTLY the way it is in the USA. I insist on a formal Privacy Policy for all iCop members' web sites. This is because the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires it.

However, you may have noticed, I also insist on specific wording in our member's Privacy Statement that they will NOT sell, trade or give away your personal information for the purpose of building the contact lists of third parties.

Maybe you've wondered why. The reason is because the FTC DOES NOT CARE what you do with the personal information of others - as long as you state that you're going to do it.

Don't be lulled into the false sense of security that says the FTC will protect you. It won't. It's basically told what to do by organizations such as the Direct Marketers Association lobby.

You must READ Privacy Statements to know how your personal information will be used.

Now, Here's the One that REALLY Pisses Me Off!

It seems there's a company in Little Rock, Arkansas that has a database holding 750 BILLION pieces of information on you, me and everyone we know.

The head honcho there is one John Meyer. This dude calls it a “consumer information database” that holds approximately 1,500 facts about half a billion people worldwide.

What do They Know About You?

Everything: your name, address and phone numbers, your education, your job, whether you are left or right handed, what kind and how many pets you have and what you feed them, how many kids you have and what you feed THEM.

They also know: whether you color your hair and what kind and color you use, what supplements you take, your hobbies, everything but how many times a day you use the bathroom, and if you buy bladder control products, they can come close to knowing that.

They know: how much child support you pay/receive, how much your light bill is each month, how much you pay for your clothes, how many traffic tickets you've had, how many cocktails you have in a week.

How do They Know?

You told them. That's right. We give out information constantly in various places. We tend to CHOOSE where we give some of it. Other info, we simply never think about.

Every time you sign up for a special card for special prices, you go into a computer that tracks everything you buy at that store. Think how many private things you may buy at a CVS Drug Store.

Every time you send in a card to register a purchase, supposedly for the warranty, the information goes into a computer. It might be your vehicle, your toaster, your vacuum, your wrist watch, your camera, the list goes on and on.

Everything you charge on a credit card goes into a computer. Every word you put on ANY application goes into a computer. Surveys you take, whether written, or orally on the phone, are logged.

Then, it's sold! Even our electric company here in Louisiana sells our information. So does the Department of Motor Vehicles. What the hell?

The sad story is: this has been going on for years. What's different about this company in Arkansas is that they have been buying these lists from every company they can. That puts all the information in one place.

In turn, the company can pull up a list of people with specific aspects. If they want faux-red-haired women, who use Clairol, own beagle dogs, walk with a cane, eat at Burger King twice a week, drive a Buick, wear Depends, grow petunias and take 3,000 units of vitamin C a day, they can pull that list.

They sell this information to advertisers!

So, What's the Problem?

You may not have one. I do because it takes my choices away from me. I may not mind allowing a certain company to know certain things. I choose to give them the information. However, I do NOT choose to have them sell that information to anyone who can pay the price.

And, spare me the, “Well, if you have nothing to hide ...” or the, “You're only as sick as your secrets” arguments. This is a matter of personal privacy. We have NO idea what that information may be used for sometime in the future.

The next thing you know, this company - or some other - will be selling this information to employers, ex-spouses, neighbors, your adult children, your daughter's boyfriend, or anyone else who wants to know your private information.

Will They be Stopped?

I doubt it. We didn't bother to raise bloody hell when they started listening to our phone calls and reading our email. We're so used to answering questions without thought, this may seem like a very small issue.

But, the one thing you can be sure of is - this will NOT stop here. We never thought it would come to this when we applied for those special price cards or answered those questionnaires.

Yet, here we are. Anyone can gather any information they please about us- and SELL that information. The aforementioned John Meyer says they tried to keep this company secret for a long time. Now, he doesn't care who knows. As if that will make it okay.

What does THAT tell you? Think about it.

tinyurl.com/dfarnj

Have a fabulous week and ... keep on keepin' on!

  jl

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