Guarding Your Identity

The Sunday newspapers were filled with stories about identity theft. The lack of any action by our state or federal government leaves me wondering if the respective governing bodies are just slow to act or is this simply a manufactured crisis, a kind of media (and blog) stoked hysteria that really is not such a big problem. But since I’m not yet sure which is the case, I’ll take some steps to try to protect my identity. The Boston Globe recommends three things in particular: shred all sensitive information such as credit card bills and copies of tax returns since most identity theft is done by so called “dumpster divers” who steal the information by going through your trash. If you have a wireless network at home, use all a real password (not the name of your child or pet) to get onto the network. Unsecured wireless networks apparently broadcast the electronic equivalent of a “Please Steal My Information” sign high tech thieves. And get copies of your credit report annually to ensure that no unauthorized transactions have taken place. The story also says consumers should not worry about using credit cards to shop online since that information is encrypted while the transaction is accomplished (of course, if the company saves all your credit card information on a computer server that’s unprotected, it might get stolen from there, but that’s true whether you buy online or in person).