Massive privacy data breach for Government

[glatt]

So 22.1 million Americans had ALL of their private data hacked. That's almost 10% of the country.

Are we at the point now where we should all assume that our data has been hacked? If the US government can't keep the data of its employees safe, should we trust the three credit agencies to be keeping basically the same information for all of us secure? If any one of them was hacked, would we hear about it?

What do we do with this information of the most recent breach? Should I be putting a credit freeze in place so no cards or loans can be made in my name? I have no evidence my data was compromised, but is it reasonable to assume that it either has been or soon will be in this day and age?

If you have put a credit freeze in place for yourself, or a fraud alert, how did that go? Was there a down side for you?

[lumberjim]

Makes my job a pain in the ass when you do it

ETA:

I should say.... when you do that and don't keep the info up to date.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by glatt

So 22.1 million Americans had ALL of their private data hacked. That's almost 10% of the country.

This info brought to you by LifeLock.

[footfootfoot]

Seriously, let's step back a bit and pose this suggestion:

"I have a great idea. Let's put as much personal, super private, critical information as we can into a single location and store it in such a way that it can be effortlessly copied and sent around the globe at near light speed, and get rid of all that tiresome paper and filing cabinets and having to manually retrieve and copy documents, and the vast warehouses needed to store them and the incredible amount of time and resources needed to move or copy said documents from one place the the next. What could possibly go wrong?"

I hate to harp on a fantastic book that all of you should have read by now, Available for free download here

He begins the book:

I was born in 1936. At that time there were no jet airplanes and com-
mercial plane travel was effectively nonexistent. There were no com-
puters, no space satellites, no microwave ovens, no electric typewriters, no
Xerox machines, no tape recorders. There were no stereo music systems
nor compact disks. There was no television in 1936. No space travel, no
atomic bomb, no hydrogen bomb, no "guided missiles," as they were first
called, no "smart" bombs. There were no fluorescent lights, no washing
machines nor dryers, no Cuisinarts, no VCRs. There was no air condi-
tioning. Nor were there freeways, shopping centers, or malls. There were
no suburbs as we know them. There was no Express Mail, no fax, no tele-
phone touch dialing, no birth-control pill. There were no credit cards, no
synthetic fibers. There were no antibiotics, no artificial organs, no pesti-
cides or herbicides. That was fifty-five years ago. During my lifetime all
of this changed.

He goes on to describe the way that new technology was sold to the public who accepted any new technology as inherently good and desirable without ever questioning the possible implications of adopting the technology. He gives an example of a think tank study done about how the introduction of the telephone would change the character of our society, pros and cons, yet the results of that study were kept from the public who got only the pro side of the technology.

This si still going on today, IMO, reviews on Amazon are not the same thing as rational discourse. We just accept any new technology without question because new is always better.

[Undertoad]

During my lifetime all of this changed.

During his lifetime?

On the day this gentleman was born, the life expectancy for an American male was 59.9 years.

He should have been dead by 1996.

But he's still alive today, at age 79.

And it's all due to all the shit he claims to hate so well.

20 additional years of life - so far! 50% additional adult life! What's not to like?

Gosh, everything -- it turns out, he's spent all that extra time complaining! An extended lifetime of bitterness, ignorance, and aggravating for lifestyles that are short and painful.

Do what you like, but I'm against it.

We just accept any new technology without question because new is always better.

We don't invent things because they're new. We invent things because they are improvements.

Check out my new octagon-shaped wheel. It's NEW! Are you accepting it?

[Clodfobble]

I was talking about this at lunch with my mom. The thing is, if everyone's data is at risk, then no one's is, you know?

Like, the early cases of identity theft were bad, a real pain in the ass for the victims, mostly because people had never heard of such a thing. You had to really fight to prove that you didn't open that loan in your name. Now, though, it's so commonplace that the assumption is you're NOT you, and you have to work really hard to prove you are, just to get a legitimate loan. My dad won't buy anything online because he's so terrified of the number getting stolen. I keep telling him, I've had my card stolen at least three times in the past 8 years or so. And each time the company called me on suspicious charges, I said no they weren't mine, and a new card was issued. Never was I responsible for any charges I hadn't made, and never did I wait more than 3-5 business days before I had my new card and everything was back to normal.

Yeah, maybe fees and interest rates are higher for us all when companies have to eat those costs. But things cost more when the delivery truck gets robbed by a bunch of guys in masks too. Generally speaking, they can have my data. I ain't skeered.

[lumberjim]

my dad is paranoid too

I'm not skeert either. I don't do stupit shit online with a debit card, but I take a relatively fatalistic approach to security. Kind of like swimming in the ocean. There ARE sharks. you COULD get bit. probably won't though.

[Pamela]

You are mostly right Clod.

Such data is stolen so often that procedures are in place for it. It is still a good idea to use a credit monitoring service, and banks and credit card companies have internal fraud departments that are on the ball.

BUT

When background check info is stolen the thieves get a LOT more than just a few numbers. They get ALL your information, even stuff you forgot about, like grade schools, grades, neighbors, habits, dirty secrets (yes, the FBI knows your browsing habits!) and what your employers and friends/relatives say about you behind your back. Depending on security level, they really check you.

I once had a G-man ask me about a neighbor who was getting a background check and I was his paperboy, for Pete's sake. I barely knew his name, where he liked his paper and how prompt he was at paying and what kind of tipper he was.

Imagine now what nefarious uses such complete information might be put.

Might not some people be turned to spy? Blackmail? Extortion? Finding someone to kidnap and interrogate?

No, this particular hack might not affect you or me, but it WILL harm national security, endanger all manner of employees and agents and pay rich dividends to foreign countries for years to come.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

During his lifetime?

On the day this gentleman was born, the life expectancy for an American male was 59.9 years.

He should have been dead by 1996.

But he's still alive today, at age 79.

And it's all due to all the shit he claims to hate so well.

20 additional years of life - so far! 50% additional adult life! What's not to like?

Gosh, everything -- it turns out, he's spent all that extra time complaining! An extended lifetime of bitterness, ignorance, and aggravating for lifestyles that are short and painful.

Do what you like, but I'm against it.



We don't invent things because they're new. We invent things because they are improvements.

Check out my new octagon-shaped wheel. It's NEW! Are you accepting it?

Did you read the book? You are the one who sounds bitter. Why not read the book so you can add weight to your criticism. His point isn't that technology is bad or wrong it is that it is adopted without ever thinking of the potential consequences or allowing the public to decide if they want the technology in the first place. GMO foods might be an example. HCFCs burning up the ozone layer so we can have styrofoam big mac containers, allowing the auto industry to destroy the rail industry. No one has a say about the introduction of technology.

[xoxoxoBruce]

If Chinese agents steal my information I'm not worried, I'm sure they will protect it better than the US government does.

I just recently visited an old friend I hadn't seen in a long time. I spoke of buying something on line and he said with a shocked face, "You gave your credit card number to a company online?" He went on to tell me he and his wife wanted an induction cooker they saw on TV, and it was buy one get one free. So they called the number, got the cookers, gave the second one to a relative, life is good. Then they got the credit card statement for one cooker and two $70 shipping and handling fees. I see these ads all the time and wonder who falls for that shit... now I know.

[Undertoad]

sorry if we stepped on each other's sacred cow's hoof

HCFCs burning up the ozone layer so we can have styrofoam big mac containers, allowing the auto industry to destroy the rail industry. No one has a say about the introduction of technology.

We all have a say, through culture, markets, and government.

[xoxoxoBruce]

We've reached a point where people don't even consider whether something new is good or bad. Gotta have what the cool kids have, what's hot and trending, in order to maintain social status. Madison avenue beat this into us, and the internet turned it up to eleven.

[tw]

This problem was defined long ago. The system is based in a number that cannot change - SS #. A system must protect your identity by identifying third party useage. And must make possible for the individual to use that system to protect himself.

All existing systems are, first, to protect the system - not the individual. That system only protects an indiviidual when it protects itself. You have no system to confirm to others who you are. Same system must make possible for you to confirm nobody is trying to use your identity. No such solution is even being discussed.

Worse, this latest identity compromise has even exposed this nations intelligent agents - another fact the power that be would rather not discuss.