Click Here for Axar Technology
How to protect your privacy
So who's gonna know?

Bad enough that you get that avalanche of catalogs in the mail. All those marketing folks think they know who you are and what you'll buy. You're reduced to a person in a certain Zip code known to have bought a fishing pole and some expensive underwear. Never mind that the pole was a gift for Aunt Helen and the underwear, a stupid mistake, is still in the bottom drawer. You're getting catalogs only remotely related to fishing (Mercenary Gear) and underwear (Songs to Snuggle By).

Now you're worried that your every online move is watched by some marketing honcho -- or worse. In fact, you're not just worried, you know there's information about you in unsecured places, and it's for sale. Granted, this information probably doesn't include your real secrets. In fact, it's probably limited to dry facts and figures. But still, it feels kind of creepy. Sort of like X Files run amok. Relief may be on the way. U.S. Rep. Bruce Vento (D-MN) recently introduced a bill that would require prior written consent before a computer service can disclose personal information to a third party. But whether or not the bill or something like it passes, you might want to know what exactly is out there about you and who can get their hands on it. Should you even care? If you do, what kind of damage control can you employ?

It depends. For example, do you use e-mail only to chat about the local weather with your Aunt Delma in Poughkeepsie, or are you carelessly using e-mail at work to gossip about the boss? Maybe you've been passing insider trading tips to your brother-in-law in Singapore, or wandering around the sleazier back alleys of the Web instead of crunching numbers for that report?

Most of the time it just doesn't matter if some bored teenage hacker in a garage somewhere reads your private correspondence or finds out that you frequent pet-care sites. Besides, it's highly unlikely that would ever happen. On the other hand, corporate management does monitor computer communications in more and more workplace environments every day.

As long as your only crime is expressing feelings to a co-worker, it may be time to use encryption software. Of course, this type of sensitive communication should really be confined to your home computer and personal Internet account in the first place. You're cruising for a bruising by being indiscreet on the job. But even from home, your e-mail and file transfers are up for grabs whenever someone working for your Internet Service Provider has a bad-hair day.

And what about those horror stories you hear about on TV? You know, the nightmare of getting huge credit-card bills and a trashed credit rating because someone has stolen your identity. How? By randomly lifting your social-security number and address off the Net to issue themselves bogus plastic money. Fortunately, this is pretty rare. It can and does happen, though. So stick around, close the blinds, and learn what you can do.

-- Marieke Boer and Mike Britten, who is a professional software developer with more than 15 years of experience in database management systems. Recently, he has focused on researching and writing about software tools for programmers.

Here's How - Click for more!
Click for more!


Here's How - Click for more!
Mike Britten and Marieke Boer tell how
to get it done on the Net:
How can I protect my e-mail?
What is a digital ID?
What about giving out personal information?
How can I communicate on the Net anonymously?
How can I know when a Web site is "eavesdropping" on my visit?

Snappy Picks

On your side
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Internet Privacy Coalition
You Own Your Own Web
Center for Democracy and Technology
Privacy International
eTRUST
Gambino's list
NetGuide Live's computer security sites
Global Internet Liberty Campaign
Voters Telecommunications Watch

Toolbox
DigiCash
VeriSign
Digital Identity
Vince Cate's Cryptorebel/Cypherpunk Page
List of Anonymous Remailers
The Anonymizer
MIT Distribution Site for PGP
Pretty Good Privacy Info
Security: File Wiping
Computer Passwords
PGPcookie.cutter
Anonymous Remailers FAQ

Encryption Software
PGPmail (PC and Mac)
Enigma (PC and Mac)
ViaCrypt 4.0 (PC and Mac)
Scrambler (PC)
Puffer 2.0 (PC)
QuickEncrypt (Mac)
Norton Your Eyes Only (PC)
PCCrypto (PC)
AT&T Secret Agent (PC, Mac, and Unix)
RSA SecurPC (PC and Mac)

Mixed Bag
Computer Privacy Handbook
Net spy (Access the Facts and Cover Your Tracks)
The Private Investigation Home Page
Fun with Paranoia
The American Information Network Inc.
TRW Inc.
FBI
James Bond, Agent 007
Spy Zone
The Internet DMV
The World Wide Web Security FAQ

Newsgroups
alt.privacy
alt.security
soc.rights.human
comp.society.privacy


Go to full Snap Guide list

Have advice for us? Drop a line to Snap Guides.


Help | About NetGuide Live | Feedback

Home | What's On Now | Search+Browse | Explore | Net Know-How | News/Reference

Copyright © 1997 CMP Media Inc.