Cheryl, every time you go to the grocery, wal-mart,etc. and write a check they require you to put your drivers license number on the check. Many people actually have it printed on their checks along with their name and address. It's no secret that in many states, your social security number is used as your drivers license number. Something like 65000 people have had their identities stolen using the information from their checks. I have yet to see someone say "No I won't give you that information, I'd rather pay cash." Invariably they give the information requested. So you see, vast numbers (probably the majority) of people are blissfully ignorant of security risks, or simply don't care unless they have been severely affected (e.g. identity stolen, bill collectors calling to collect for merchandise and services being enjoyed by someone else).
How is giving someone your credit card number over the phone or on a paper catalog order secured? What guarantee do you have that the Sun Solaris powered vendor you deal with isn't sharing your credit information with other interested parties for a little extra effortless profit?
Do you shred your credit card reciepts, or simply throw them in the trash?
Do you disable the cookies on your browser, or do you simply decline to visit sites that require them (it's almost impossible to order anything over the web unless you let them set a cookie)?
Do you pay cash for big ticket items to avoid allowing your vendor to peek into your credit history?
Most people are consciously or unconsciously accepting the tradeoff of convenience in lieu of privacy/security. The genie is out of the bottle, and unless you do business on a strictly cash basis, the amount of information people can get about your finances is almost limitless, even if you never do business on-line. And if you pay cash for items over a given threshold (I think its $10000 but I'm not sure) the vendor is required to inform the feds who will then investigate you, which generates some sort of record which can presumably be found and possibly be exploited by someone trying to take advantage of you (the assumption is the only people who make large purchases with cash are tax-cheats, drug dealers, money launderers or all of the above).
Steve |
