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Robert Douglas of American Privacy Consultants says,
"in a matter of minutes you can find just about anything
that's possible to learn about any individual in the United
States."
Robert
Douglas is the CEO of American Privacy Consultants in Alexandria.
He says Web sites like Docusearch.com put a tremendous amount of
information about us, medical infomation, banking, credit card
and phone calls. What once was off-line is now on-line.
A bank
account search, 240-dollars. Douglas says, "They will turn
over the balance, the amount of monty in the account, and the
name of the bank."
Are people
aware of the dangers to their privacy? Will Lee Brooks, an
Internet user said, "I'm Not really worried, maybe I should
be, but I'm not."
Amy Lyn
Boyer was stalked then killed by a young man who used Internet
information to carry out his plan. Liam Youens then killed
himself. Amy's family wants people to understand the potential
dangers of the Internet. They even reproduced the killer's
website where he detailed for the world to see what he was
planning to do.
And, we add
more information about ourselves when we surf the Internet. Many
websites record our visits using cookies and web bugs. They put a
little file called a cookie on our hard drives. Next time you
come to the site, their computer reads the cookie and software
figures out what to offer you this visit."
Some
companies provide advertising and track cookies over a large
number of sites. It like you're being trailed.
Douglas
said, "having someone watch where you shop when you went to
the mall, knowing every item you're looking at, every book you're
consider buying, that's what a web bug or cookie will do."
And that's
why privacy advocates want penalties for web sites that misuse
people's information.
Evan
Hendricks, Editor Privacy Times said, "This is where just a
mere visit to a web site can be sensitive information. If you're
looking into Alzheimers, heart problems, cancer or aids. If that
category is tied to your name, it can cause problems for you in a
whole lot of ways."
Next time
I'll tell you what you should do about protecting your privacy
online while you surf, send e-mail, or take part in chat rooms.
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