Your Identity has been Lost

Your Identity has been Lost

The other day I left work with a kick in my step and a whistle in my heart. Life was good. I arrived home and began to slowly filter through my mail: junk, junk, junk, bill, more junk…then suddenly I came across a curious letter. It had the words “Important information enclosed” printed upon it …now I have had hundreds, perhaps thousands of letters sent to me with those words and every time they were everything but the least bit important. I opened the envelope and began to read:

Dear Customer,
As reported on May 30, 2006…

My mouth fell open and my fingers spread like a fan while the letter fell to the floor in a swooshing manner, like a feather floating in a beautiful field. The letter went on to say that a company, which I received my college loans from, had “lost 1.3 million records” which contained personal information including social security numbers and most likely my information was included. If I were in a movie the camera would have been inches from my face as it panned backwards into outer space as my eyes widened and I screamed “Noooooooo!!!”

Now I made these loans over 20 years ago and I might add they were quite small. I received a scholarship to San Francisco Art Institute and used the loan to support my bohemian standard of living whilst I studied for my career as a member of the avant-garde.

Apparently this loan company hired another company and one of their employees took home a laptop with decrypted records of 1.3 million people and then “lost” the laptop. I can read that word a hundred times over and it still doesn’t make sense… “LOST!” How does someone lose an important piece of hardware that they know has such a tremendous amount of sensitive information. What if you open the newspaper one morning and the headline reads “ Launch codes for US Nuclear Arsenal lost by government employee.” You would be shocked to say the least and mortified of the endless possible outcomes from such information making its way in the world unguarded.

In the old days these financial records would have been destroyed years ago. Why my personal financial information from 20 years ago is still being inventoried was never mentioned in the letter . The bottom line is the records are now floating out there in the world and can be used to steal my identity and that of 1,299,999 other people.

This is not an uncommon occurrence. In fact it is happening all the time. Just do a search on Google for “Lost personal information.” You will find stories of lost, stolen and otherwise misplaced information by private companies, banks, hospitals, the government and the list goes on. Recently the Department of Veterans Affairs lost personal information including social security numbers of 26.5 million veterans. What is going on here?

The letter I received went on to state how I am able to, free of charge, place a security check the credit reporting agencies for 90 days. After that time period the security check must be renewed. I put this in my Palm and from now until my last dying day I will place a security check on my credit record every three months. But what about the 1,299,999 other people…some of who may have mistaken the obscure curious letter as junk and tossed it into the circular file. I guess they are walking around with a kick in their step and a whistle in their heart….completely clueless.

There is a technological hubris with regard to security and privacy that is increasingly imbedding itself as the standard in our society and it is quickly undermining both privacy and security. Companies and institutions speak of their dedication in protecting individuals but the systems are flawed, left unchecked, or poorly self policed. Additionally employees from all levels of management are given access to sensitive information and yet they do not always have an understanding of the importance of their role as steward of such information. Everyday individuals freely give out information on Web sites, printed applications, and over the phone that is unnecessary to do business. This lackadaisical attitude is only enabling a standardization of security breaches.

Computers are blissful wonderful tools and can enable a plethora of positive profound experiences on our lives, however they can also be used in such a manner to wreak havoc on us or be employed as tools of oppression. Therein lies our responsibility to ourselves are our fellow humans.

Today it is the individual who needs to take responsibility guarding information. Using security software on your laptop or desktop computer should be a number one priority. Questioning why certain information is necessary to do business is the best way to know where your personal data is to be housed and gives you the choice of participation.

Lastly everyone…and I mean everyone is accountable. As we sail into the future, reaping the techno seeds we have planted, we should remember the importance of responsible stewardship for our sake and that of others. It all begins with you!