Your life is for sale on the world wide web


Or at least the records of what you have done and who you have talked to about it
This article is scary.

It's actually obscene what you can find out about people on the Internet.

Take cell phone records -- literally.  Your cell phone bills are there for the taking, for about $100 a month.  Dozens of Web sites offer this service –- one month, or one year. Every call, every phone number. However scary that sounds, it won’t really hit you until you see it for yourself -- so click here for an example of what's out there.  Then hit "back" in your browser, and let me explain.

Who your friends are. How to contact them. Even where you were. All those crumbs are on sale. Right now. Online. To anyone.

It may be outrageous, but it's not new.  MSNBC.com first wrote about this problem in October 2001, in a story titled "I know who you called last month." 

The problem was exposed years earlier by a private investigator named Rob Douglas.  Banking records, home phone long-distance calling, even medical information, were all for sale, he told Congress.  Once a buyer of that kind of information, Douglas came to believe the practice was unethical, unfair and maybe even illegal –- and he began a crusade against the industry, eventually founding PrivacyToday.com.

Remember, this is just the commercial stuff.

Does anyone still doubt that there will be a huge market for government information from a central database?

Anyone want to give me odds on that information staying secure?

Just remember all those links when some politico tries to tell you that Real ID is a good idea.

PrivacyToday.com just got added to my links.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Sat - November 26, 2005 at 04:39 AM  Tag


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