REAL LIFE


We wanted to add a few personal comments of our own to what has already been said about privacy issues. Be assured that our purpose is not to make any member paranoid, but merely to explain how the Forum fits into the "broader" security picture.

We will make cover seven common items to make a point:

1. Every time you visit a doctor or fill a prescription, you give your insurance company and the drug store permission to compile records concerning your illness and the meds you are taking. We, of course, trust that such information will only be used as required to process your claims and that such information will only be shared on a NEED TO KNOW BASIS. We have expectations that our employer will not be notified when we visit a doctor for depression and that we had fill a prescription for Paxil. WE TRUST OTHERS.

2. We make phone calls all the time with the knowledge that the technology exists for conversations to be intercepted, especially if we use a cell phone. There is also caller ID and phone company traces. We still use the phone.

3. Postal mail has been intercepted and mailboxes have been robbed to steal indentifiable information, but we still use the mail.

4. We fill out applications at local food stores to obtain store cards so that when we go to the checkout line, we can get discounts. This is a clear case of data being stored about us and sold. It is not an accident that if you buy diapers and baby food on a regular basis, the next coupon mailer you receive will have infant related coupons in the envelope. These stores make money selling your buying habits and patterns.

5 The most dangerous identfication we have is our social secuirty number. We all take a slight risk every time we fill out a form asking for our SS#. We're sure that many of you have heard of people who have had their identities stolen.

6 Using a company computer for personal use has its own legal and privacy ramifications. Many landmark cases have sided with employers over the privacy rights of their employees. Suits have been brought against employers for reading employees private e-mails and then taking action based on their content. The law has sided many times with the employers, stating that e-mails stored on the companies' computer and written during business hours does not guarantee personal privacy. A company owns the facilities that were used and has a right to regulate and monitor the use of their own computer systems.

Therefore, if and when you use a private system, you may give up your legal protection. If you use a company computer to access this Forum and they have a policy against it, you are taking a risk. That is of couse totally dependent on who you work for and how much they might care.

We all live our lives knowing that there is a minimal risk in going about our daily lives, but we do so anyway, taking some cautious and prudent steps to protect our privacy.

THE INTERNET

7. The Internet may well be the greatest invention of the 20th century. It puts access to the whole world in your home and office. It has many wonderful uses. It also has some inherent risk when we use it.

There will always be hackers who break into sites, even with the tightest security measures. There will be e-mails that are intercepted, looking for personal information. It is not a great risk for any one individual, but it does exist.

Every e-mail has identifying information that is attached so that messages can be routed to their proper destination and to insure that replies come back to the right place. The Forum has access to some of that technology so that we can block an abusive or inapporpriate member from returning to do further harm. That is the only time we use it. You should understand though that you do not have a solid guarantee that such information may be not be used for other puposes by other entities.

It is ALWAYS a good idea to think twice about sending an e-mail with your SS#, credit card information, bank account number or any other sensitive information to anyone unless you know it is going to a secure site that encrypts that information.

Now to our site. This is a open and public forum. Anyone can view as a guest and read all the posts, registered members only can click on your profile to see what you have written about yourself, look at the Forum gallery and blogs if not kept private, etc. If you really have concerns about privacy, you should be careful about what YOU disclose here.
If you don't want the world to see it, don't post it!!!

In conclusion. Privacy is a big issue in many aspects of our lives. It is just a fact of life. The information that THIS FORUM collects about you is virtually meaningless. This Forum, by itself, should not be a reason for any alarm.

PRIVACY CONCERNS SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE BECAUSE OF THIS FORUM, BUT IN SPITE OF THIS FORUM.

WE TRULY BELIEVE THAT THIS FORUM DOES NOT CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING TO THE PROBLEM BY ITSELF. WE ARE JUST A USER OF A MODERN TECHNOLOGY THAT CARRIES INHERENT RISK.

Please put this issue in perspective. You give out far more information about yourself than we do. We do not give our any information. Period. We don't even have your private information to give out! You are the decision maker as to what and how much information you wish to disclose.