A Word About Your Privacy
Recent news reports tell us that 40 million credit card numbers have floated off into the ether, putting millions of Americans at risk for either Credit Card Fraud Reflux or an Identity Theft Migraine. How can credit card companies be so clumsy with our financial vitals that we're at their mercy, yet we can't sue for malpractice? And why are consumers the ones compelled to do all the work to repair the errors? It's enough to make you want to hide under a DSL-free bushel, and pay cash for your car.
Lakeland, FL (PRWEB) June 26, 2005 -- It seems that hackers have accessed
more than 40 million credit card numbers held by CardSystems Solutions, Inc., a
transaction processor based in Tucson. These numbers are now at risk of being
used for crimes ranging from fraudulent transactions to outright identity theft.
To make matters worse, the breach in security dates back to the end of
2004, but was only discovered in May. Nothing like a timely response! Good thing
the credit card companies don’t know anything about putting out house fires.
They would soon be reduced to selling ashes on Ebay.
In case you were
wondering, the credit card companies are not planning to inform you if your card
is on the affected list. (One exception to that would be California, which by
state law requires that consumers be informed.) So you are stuck waiting for
some thief to start buying plasma screen TVs, overpriced exercise equipment and
male enhancement products in your name.
Yup! All those fancy crosscut
shredders are doing us no good, as banks, credit information clearinghouses and
various government entities are leaking our precious personal information and
financial data faster than the Hindenburg lost hydrogen. The economic result
could be equally explosive.
Let’s see, 40 million
cards. That’s about one of every seven Americans. Of course some consumers could
have more than one card, so they could have double or triple the fun of trying
to track their credit histories and hoping that if anyone is taking a mortgage
in their name, that at least it’s beachfront.
For years we’ve been
advised to shred our receipts and statements before consigning them to the
trash. Hold onto those social security numbers for dear life, only yielding them
reluctantly when absolutely necessary, like whey you’re interacting with any of
zillions of health care providers, dealing with a utility, registering for
school or signing up for tee ball.
You don’t want to disclose the
number? Fine. Then go downtown to the main office with your driver’s license
during abbreviated business hours and wait in a very long line so some clerk can
roll her eyes at you.
I figure thousands of people have seen my social
security number. Its confidentiality is based solely on the personal integrity
of each and every one of those thousands of people. If that person doesn’t know
how to get away with identity theft or credit card fraud, well, there’s a black
market out there for hot consumer credit and identity information. You can just
sell the lists, and no one will be the wiser.
Why does it seem like the
consumers are the ones who are punished, left on their own to repair credit
histories, restore reputations, clear up any misunderstandings about criminal
wrongdoing, make zillions of phone calls, send zillions of registered letters,
and even then not be guaranteed things will be fixed in a few years, if ever?
Why should it be easier for someone else to pretend to be you, than for you to
get everything straightened out? After all, I carry my fingerprints everywhere I
go (at the ends of my hands), and sometimes I can even reproduce my signature on
command.
Can’t we at least blame the credit card companies for being so
free with their credit that a toddler could sign up for a gold card? For being
so careless with information that Nigerians are running ponzi schemes and
purchasing yellowcake uranium in our names? For charging interest rates so high
that anyone who carries a balance basically gives up and decides the only way
out of debt is to contract a life-threatening disease?
Why should WE have
to track down the information thieves and attempt to fix everything? Why can’t
businesses be responsible for ascertaining that the person obtaining credit or
buying the big-ticket item is absolutely who they say they are? No picture I.D.,
no transaction. Then make the penalties for using fraudulent IDs so stiff than
an offender would rather burn a Koran in Tehran than face the music at
home.
One cable news anchor started agitating for "iris scans" right in
the middle of a live interview! So I assume this topic has touched a nerve, at
least among people who have credit cards. That excludes possibly the Amish and
certain categories of great-grandparents. However don't confuse my concern with
willingness to have a theft-proof biometric chip inserted anywhere on my person.
I'd sooner pay cash, or barter my pizza coupons.
There was a recent
accident where we saw live coverage of a downed helicopter in New York City’s
East River. The helicopter was filled with credit card company executives! As a
humanitarian aside, I am glad everyone survived the crash. But perhaps a bunch
of credit card company executives going underwater in the East River is symbolic
of where this country is headed with its credit and identity theft problems.
Upside down and gasping for breath.
Patricia Reilly Panara is the author
of "Nobody Move!" and the novel "Buffalo Winged."
Contact: Patricia
Reilly Panara
Column: Panara's Bodacious Blarney
863-701-0920
Above
material is free via PRWEB. Regular Columns are available for syndication.
http://www.beefonweck.com
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb255212.htm