In this busy world we live in many people never stop to think about the risk of handing out too much information. Most of us are too busy working or going to school to even care. Every day we give out information without even realizing it.
A person may be going to a job interview. The interview is going like any typical interview. The interviewer asks things like "What do you plan on doing in five years?" and "If you are hired; how long do you plan on working for this company?" If this is his first time, he may stammer through some of the first questions, but after a while he'll start flying through them. Near the end of the interview the interviewer asks him for his social security card. He hands it over thinking nothing of it. Most people think of it as a routine pre-job thing. Well, let's say I ask for his social security card. For around thirty dollars I can find out information about him that he thought was confidential. For example, I can find out about his credit, criminal history, where he has lived, his current phone number (even if it is unlisted), and his aliases.
Well, he leaves the interview confident that he got the job. He heads over to Blockbuster's Video Store. While trying to decide between the latest Jackie Chan movie and the latest "Asteroid Destroys the World" movie, he overhears two employees talking. Not that he is an eavesdropper but they are yelling across the store. One says "Hey Joe, What's your password? I need to use the cash register!" The other replies "One Two Three!" Now he's thinking: "Big Deal, so what? Now everyone knows Joe's password." Well, another thing that is accessible via Joe's password is all the information that you supplied to Blockbuster when you applied for a membership: your credit card number, address, phone number, and records of which movies you rented. (Wilson)
A couple of weeks later he decides to just go relax on a vacation to get away from the spouse and kids. He chooses rather than going through the hassle of going to a travel agency that it would be more convenient to order his tickets online. He opens the web page of his favorite airline: http://www.we-don't-crash-often.com/. He starts placing his ticket order and right after he places it he receives an error message on the screen. He thinks "Maybe my order didn't go through." So, he retypes out the order and receives the same message. He repeats the process about five times. A week later, he receives ten tickets to his destination. (Macbride)
After haggling on the telephone for an hour, he is able to return nine of the ten tickets. He arrives at his destination, still a bit upset about the "multiple tickets" situation, and grabs a rental car. He drives to one of those fancy hotels: indoor pool, room service, spa, sauna, fountains, etc. Once he checks in, the bellhop hands him a credit card-looking thing. He looks at the bellhop queerly and says, "What's this?" The bellhop smiles and says, "Oh, that is your room key. Room 353" He walks to the elevator and goes upstairs. Meanwhile a couple of hours later another person walks up to front desk with his room key and says to the bellhop "My room key isn't working." The bellhop takes the card and says "What's your room number?" The man replies "353". The man heads to the elevator and steps inside. I will leave the possibilities of what could happen to your imagination. (Roberts)
He arrives home and starts unpacking. He realizes that his wallet is missing. Most of the time this would not be too traumatic of a deal for most people. A couple of weeks later he gets his drivers license and credit cards remade. A month later he starts receiving credit card bills for credit cards he does not even own. At this point, his identity has been stolen, whether he realizes it or not. Most would say that this only happens in the movies (such as The Net) but this has happened. There was an episode of Unsolved Mysteries about a woman that lived in California that stole a Floridian woman's identity. (Parslow)
These types of things can actually happen if you are not careful. I'm not saying to go lock yourself in your cellar and never come out. I am just merely saying that you should be more aware of who you are giving information to.
Works Cited
Macbride, Craig. "Risks of ordering airline tickets online" http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/19.27.html
Parslow, Denis. "Unsolved Mysteries covers identity theft!" http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/19.31.html
Roberts, Glen. "The Door Is Open!" http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/19.31.html
Wilson, Mike. "Choosing and protecting your password: NOT!" http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/19.15.html
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