Personal Information Protection Act

At the end of it all, I think it is noble to want to protect the rights of our people and our right to privacy is as important as any other. Maybe folks who live in Canada do have more privacy in relation to their government and how they take care of them, but Canada is not the United States, and the United States has a lot more to worry about.

For one thing, identity theft is an especially real concern in the USA. If someone ever steals your credit card or happens to get some of your personal information, it can really create a mess. This is a mess that can be very difficult and time consuming to clean up. You may think that all that needs to happen is just make a few phone calls, cancel some accounts and everything will be fine. Unfortunately, in many different cases, identity theft is not discovered until much later in the process.

There have been stories of criminals stealing identities and then doing all sorts of crazy things. Some people have even taken out loans for cars and property in the name of their victim. In fact, a few have even committed crimes in the names of their victims. Could you imagine being pulled over for a routine traffic stop and then the next thing you known being treated like a dangerous criminal? This has actually happened before. In some cases, the records can only be cleaned up so much and people actually carry a special piece of identification indicating that they were a victim of criminal identity theft.

All of this leads to the question about how to protect your personal information. Certainly laws and regulations can help, but will they really do the entire job by themselves? Not likely. You need to make sure to take steps on your own to protect your vital information.

The first thing is to keep sensitive information from those who would like to do you harm. Start by requesting electronic statements rather than paper forms through the mail. Use direct deposit to collect payments whenever possible. Do not have checks sent to an unlocked, unsecured mail box. Keep all of your personal and financial records under lock and key. Use password protection for everything possible (and change them regularly).

The next thing is to be very careful with sensitive information. This includes your social security number. Always ask if you can provide an alternative number. If someone insists that this number must be provided ask why. Ask to see the law or rules and regulations indicating that this is indeed required.

Monitor all of your accounts regularly. Personally, I do this online and check all of my accounts at least weekly. If you have a number of different accounts, it can help to list them in a spreadsheet. Maybe even use this to record the last time you checked the account.

Following these tips will help ensure that your personal and financial information is kept safe and secure.

We as Americans were all desperately pining for the safe and secure feeling that was now long gone and we were willing to make nearly any sacrifice to get it back. One sacrifice we made and are still making was our right to privacy as we knew it.

Without going through the long and arduous argument about the validity of this development and whether or not the ends did truly justify the means, one must acknowledge that some peoples’ rights were lost during that time in our country in the name of national security.  We must also acknowledge that not one significant attack has happened since that time and American society has grown more used to just getting hassled at the airport and know that maybe that Big Brother is watching a little closer than usual.  For better or worse, it is the world we now live in and even though our privacy may not be what it used to be, we still have enough freedom to live as comfortable as any other people in the world. 

Part of that living comfortably is the other reason we are less private as Americans than in the past.  The internet has shrunk this country down to the size of a quarter.  People across the country now can see what you’re up to on Facebook, depending on where you have friends and family. 

You can actually keep people abreast of this activity unwittingly.  Photos that you take with your smart phone, if the device is GPS enabled, usually are tagged with a geographic location.  That is the default setting.  Just recently a computer hacker that had breached National Security was caught because his girlfriend took a snapshot of herself with a GPS tag that she posted online.  Authorities tracked her down off that data and they never saw it coming.

This is how I feel.  We are just so on the grid now, that unless you are really paying attention to your online profile, people are going to be able to access some vital information about you in no time.  It can be a little shameful to admit that you Google your own name, but really you cannot afford not to.  It is imperative that you know what other people, complete strangers, have access to when it comes to who you are and where you live. 

But again I have to say we almost ask for this.  It is convenient to stay in touch with people online and the more we use the GPS devices and other apps that make our lives so much easier, the more they become ingrained in our lives.  We simply have to accept that if we want these luxuries, we have to live in the light of the electricity that drives it all.  If we want to live this way, we have to give a little something up in order to get it.

In my opinion, personal privacy and the protection thereof has become much more of a hot-button issue in the United States since the PIPEDA initiative was signed into law in Canada over twelve years ago.  This is for a couple of reasons that are rather unrelated, but noteworthy nonetheless. 

First of all, the country experienced the world changing tragedy of the attacks on September 11th 2001.  As Americans, it changed our lives forever.  Obviously this affected the way we live, the way we travel, and the way we viewed the entire world around us.  It also changed the way the world viewed the United States.  For the first time in the country’s relatively young history (since the revolutionary war anyway) American security was truly threatened.  The unthinkable had happened, innocent American citizens dying on American soil had become a reality and our oceanic barriers were no longer going to protect us from all threats. 

We were now a country at war.  A country at war with an intangible enemy that had the ability and the means to infiltrate your borders and lay forth attacks on our people and our society.  These attackers however did not come at us with what we traditionally think of as “weapons”, but rather they were able to harm and threaten American people with their own infrastructure.  In the case of September the 11th, it was our lackadaisical air travel system in which they were able to see weaknesses and therefore take over a plane, or several planes, and turn them into truly guided missiles.  Beyond that, our own postal service was responsible for the distribution of Anthrax powder (or at least the threat of it) all around the country.  No matter how much we prepared, we could have never prepared for that kind of warfare.

America, however, swiftly moved to a wartime state.  Fear among the general American populace was at an all-time high.  Our government and the media blatantly fueled that fire in order to keep us on alert and a near constant barrage of frightening information about how just unsafe we really were became everyday fare on the news.

This was an unconventional war against an invisible enemy who literally could be living right next door. 

It has become apparent that the American Department of Homeland Security had become a prominent figure in the war against terror. They and our presidential administration pushed hard to loosen privacy laws to chase after terrorists. 

Suddenly, the laws had changed and it happened with the blessing of the American people.  The laws that once protected our own people against being spied upon by their own government were instantly relaxed so that the agencies responsible for our safety could operate more freely.  Now it was easier to get a warrant for wire tapping and other modes of surveillance with less and less need to show proof of intent.   Without even knowing it, American privacy became a very, very subjective term.

Okay.  Here's my take.

Personally, I never take more than I need with me in public. This means that I leave all unnecessary credit cards, pieces of identification and other information at home, under lock and key. What I do bring with me is spread between both of my front pockets. The idea is to make it as difficult as possible for anyone who may try to either pick your pocket or magnetically scan your cards. If you really wanted to take this a step further, you could try carrying all of your cards in aluminum cases which will totally prevent this last possibility.

When using credit cards, you need to be especially careful. Ideally, the card will never leave your sight, but this is not always possible. Restaurants are notorious for this. When holding or handling your card right before paying for a transaction, always make sure that you cover all of the numbers with your hand. In fact, if you could simply give your number to the clerk this would be better than having them physically swipe it, but again, this is not always possible. At any rate, you only want the card to be out of your possession for as little time as possible. Once it is returned to you, thoroughly examine the card. Make sure that it is yours!

This may seem obvious, but changing your card is a common scam. In fact, most identity theft is committed by just ordinary employees. Maybe they feel that the company does not pay them enough or treat them fairly, so they are going to pay themselves. The first time I became aware of this was in a restaurant. I noticed my card looked a little different. Sure enough it was not mine! After I brought this to the attention of the waiter, I saw something incredible. Still within earshot, the waiter walked over to another employee at the counter and without saying a word, they quickly exchanged cards and mine was returned to me! That showed me that this happens often enough to be a real problem. Of course, I immediately canceled that card and actively monitored the activity on the account for a month for any signs of fraud.

That is another thing you should be in the habit of doing…monitor all of your accounts regularly. Oftentimes, when a thief is able to steal a card or get access to an account, they will divert the statements to a new address. Therefore, you must know when all of your statements are set to arrive in the mail. Better yet, set yourself up with online account access and then follow them closely. Ultimately, you cannot rely on a law or government to ensure your privacy; it must be maintained through your own efforts.

I like how this article contained a general overview of some of the legislation currently on the books. The Privacy Act of 1974 supposedly protects the personal information of individuals that is stored by Federal agencies. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 was written to help ensure consumer data is protected while in transit. The Child Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 gives parents the right to control what information is collected from their children while online and how this is used. The Child Internet Protection Act of 2001 was designed to protect children from offensive online content, especially when accessed from school or library computers. This act is the reason why many library computers have filters on them and will not allow unfettered web browsing. The last piece of US legislation mentioned is the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. This one is actually an amendment to the famous Fair Credit Reporting Act, giving consumers the right to access their credit reports, place alerts on their history, and includes provisions to help prevent identity theft (although the author does not go into any detail about what these provisions are).

While all of these laws are helpful to one degree or another, there are significant problems with their enforcement. The biggest issue is that technology has advanced so fast that it is rather easy to circumvent many of these laws. Sad to say, but identity theft has become an even bigger problem today than when all of these laws were written. This is true worldwide, but is becoming especially troublesome within the US.

All of this leads to the obvious question about whether anyone is truly safe. The biggest thing to remember here is that technology has advanced fast and far. I am sure very few readers (myself included) will really have an accurate idea of what is actually possible. We have probably all heard stories of despicable thieves putting devices on bank ATM machines hoping to skim some credit card numbers, or of even restaurant employees palming credit cards and returning fake ones to their customers.

The first step in protecting yourself is to simply be aware that this problem exists and that it is widespread. Accept that your card information could be stolen anywhere. Once you truly believe this, it will be much easier to do what is needed.

Easing Legaleze

This article gives an excellent overview of some aspect of privacy legislation in both Canada and the USA. Many people, including myself, are very concerned about how we can continue to protect our privacy and what the various pieces of legislation actually say and do. In many cases, there seems to be a big gap between what the original intention of these laws may have been and what their words actually say.

The author starts out by examining some of the privacy standards and laws of Canada. I was actually not even aware that Canada actually has a privacy law, called the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPED). This has been in place since April of 2000.

What immediately struck me was that the Canadian authorities seem at least somewhat committed to making sure the safety of personal information is ensured. This is not something which I could confidently say about the US government.

PIPED also gives individuals a number of specific rights. Some of these include knowing why an organization is collecting, using or disclosing their personal information and even knowing specifically who within the organization is responsible for protecting their information.

This is an excellent code! Sort of like a consumer bill of rights. Now, the article does not really focus on how well this law is being enforced, or exactly what the reactions have been from either a social or political perspective. However, just having these rights codified in law is certainly at least a big step in the right direction.

At this point, the article shifts its focus to the US. At the present time, there is no Personal Information Protection Act within the US. However, the author does point out that there are a number of other pieces of legislation with similar goals and that new legislation is in the works. I like that.

Well, you have to give it to the Canadians.  They often seem ahead of us in many things when it comes to socialization and creature comforts.  Like sometimes, I hear some news story or something that mentions the free healthcare in Canada and I feel a pang of longing.  It would be awesome to stop worrying about health insurance costs.  Of course, I would not be interested in living in a communist society (which is what most people say when I mention Canada‘s cool sounding-ness), but a set up like they have in Canada truly does sound nice in many ways. 

It also seems odd that the United States has not come up with something equivalent.  It almost sounds like they want to be able to keep up with our information for some reason.  I guess that is understandable to some extent when you consider homeland security concerns.  I just worry about the misuse of power, you know.  But they have to ensure our safety, so I guess I am a little divided on the matter.
 

Does a lack of a personal privacy act in the US mean that if I request a copy of any records that may have been compiled about me (I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and didn't get out until the age of 21), that they will not be obligated to honor my request? Can anyone steer me in the right direction? Thanks.

I'm sick of all the privacy violations happening with Google, Facebook, and all the other online services. Can we please get some privacy legislation, we need a Personal Information Protection Act!!

I think it's not at all surprising that personal information protection is taking a back seat in the U.S. Let's face it - we're a capitalist society with a capitalist agenda. Personal information = $$. Just like lobbyists are keeping oil industries within political favor, I don't see privacy advocacy having enough cash power to overcome the pressure by the private sector that is profiting from your personal data.

If there was ever an important piece of legislation to protect our privacy and security, this would be it. Too bad politicians are too busy fighting over oil and the ending of the war in Iraq to notice that our people are losing the battle in the information war. That could come back to haunt us as the digital wars of the next couple decades take hold...

I find it hard to believe that the U.S. doesn't have its own Personal Privacy Act. Oh wait, no I don't - because my credit card numbers keep getting scammed, and so does my phone, and my email, and everyone in my family gets hit by scammers and spammers...so - nope, can't say I'm surprised one bit that the U.S. doesn't have a personal info protection act.

Do we need one? Hmmm, see above. Please, United States of Non-Privacy, get your act together and help protect your citizens (and consumers). If you want us to be patriotic and spend, you're going to have to set up the system so we can actually do that without being defrauded and losing our identity, house, money, etc. etc. !!!