Privacy: Tips for Protecting
Your Personal Information
Every day you share personal information
about yourself with others. It's so routine that you may not even realize
you're doing it. You may write a check at the grocery store, charge tickets
to a ball game, rent a car, mail your tax returns, buy a gift online, call
home on your cell phone, schedule a doctor's appointment or apply for a
credit card. Each transaction requires you to share personal information:
your bank and credit card account numbers; your income; your Social Security
number (SSN); or your name, address and phone numbers.
It's important to find out what happens
to the personal information you and your children provide to companies,
marketers and government agencies. These organizations may use your
information simply to process your order; to tell you about products,
services, or promotions; or to share with others.
And then there are unscrupulous
individuals, like identity thieves, who want your information to commit
fraud. Identity theft - the fastest-growing white-collar crime in America -
occurs when someone steals your personal identifying information, like your
SSN, birth date or mother's maiden name, to open new charge accounts, order
merchandise or borrow money. Consumers targeted by identity thieves usually
don't know they've been victimized. But when the fraudsters fail to pay the
bills or repay the loans, collection agencies begin pursuing the consumers
to cover debts they didn't even know they had.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
encourages you to make sure your transactions - online and off - are secure
and your personal information is protected. The FTC offers these tips to
help you manage your personal information wisely, and to help minimize its
misuse.
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Before you reveal any personally
identifying information, find out how it will be used and whether it will
be shared with others. Ask about company's privacy policy: Will you have a
choice about the use of your information; can you choose to have it kept
confidential?
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Read the privacy policy on any website
directed to children. Websites directed to children or that knowingly
collect information from kids under 13 must post a notice of their
information collection practices.
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Put passwords on your credit card, bank
and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your
mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or
your phone number, or obvious choices like a series of consecutive numbers
or your hometown football team.
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Minimize the identification information
and the number of cards you carry to what you'll actually need. Don't put
all your identifying information in one holder in your purse, briefcase or
backpack.
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Keep items with personal information in
a safe place. When you discard receipts, copies of credit applications,
insurance forms, physician statements, bank checks and statements, expired
charge cards, credit offers you get in the mail and mailing labels from
magazines, tear or shred them. That will help thwart any identity thief
who may pick through your trash or recycling bins to capture your personal
information.
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Consider ordering a copy of your credit
report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies (CRAs) every
year. Make sure it's accurate and includes only those activities you've
authorized. CRAs can't charge you more than $9.00 for a copy and in some
states, your credit report is free.
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Use a secure browser when shopping
online to guard the security of your transactions. When submitting your
purchase information, look for the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar
to be sure your information is secure during transmission.
For More Information
To learn more about more about privacy issues and how
they affect your life and the decisions you may make in the marketplace,
visit www.consumer.gov/ncpw.
The FTC works for the consumer to
prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the
marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and
avoid them. To file a
complaint or to get free information
on consumer issues, visit
www.ftc.gov or
call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The
FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related
complaints into
Consumer Sentinel, a
secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law
enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
|
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION |
FOR THE CONSUMER |
1-877-FTC-HELP |
www.ftc.gov |
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January
2002
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