This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --part0_908120713_boundary Content-ID: <[email protected]_out.mail.aol.com.1> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Please read this article regarding posting of personal information on homepages. It has many valid points that you may not be aware of at this time. Deb Haines CC for Marshall Co MS CC for Grundy Co IL CC for Roanoke Co VA --part0_908120713_boundary Content-ID: <[email protected]_out.mail.indy.net.2> Content-type: message/rfc822 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-disposition: inline Return-Path: <[email protected]> Received: from rly-za03.mx.aol.com (rly-za03.mail.aol.com [172.31.36.99]) by air-za01.mail.aol.com (v50.18) with SMTP; Sun, 11 Oct 1998 11:38:17 -0400 Received: from bl-14.rootsweb.com (bl-14.rootsweb.com [204.212.38.30]) by rly-za03.mx.aol.com (8.8.8/8.8.5/AOL-4.0.0) with ESMTP id LAA19338; Sun, 11 Oct 1998 11:38:13 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from [email protected]) by bl-14.rootsweb.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id IAA28559; Sun, 11 Oct 1998 08:37:30 -0700 (PDT) Resent-Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 08:37:30 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <[email protected]> X-Sender: [email protected] (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 10:27:55 +0400 Old-To: [email protected] From: Ellen Pack <[email protected]> Subject: Assumed identities X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by bl-14.rootsweb.com id IAA28530 Resent-Message-ID: <"M65juC.A.C-G.5CNI2"@bl-14.rootsweb.com> To: [email protected] Resent-From: [email protected] X-Mailing-List: <[email protected]> archive/latest/727 X-Loop: [email protected] Precedence: list Resent-Sender: [email protected] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Hi, Folks - Clare Salee of Lowndes County found this little article. We both thought some of you might find it helpful. Thanks, Clare! >>>News You Can Use 5/11/98, US News and World Report >>>>BY MARGARET MANNIX >>>>Home-page snoops >>>> >>>>Does your family have a home page on the Internet? If so, you might >want to >>>>reconsider how much personal information you post online. Con >artists who >>>>steal others' identities, get credit in their names, then leave innoce= nt >>>>people with a mountain of debt to fight and ruined credit to clean up >are >>>>discovering the charms of the Net. >>>> >>>>Old-fashioned techniques like wading through Dumpsters for >discarded >credit- >>>>card receipts take time. These days, a savvy thief can hack into an >Internet >>>>service provider's subscriber list and lift credit-card numbers by the >>>>thousands. Databases full of sensitive information have been >inadvertently >>>>left open in cyberspace. And some online outfits peddle sensitive >information >>>>without regard to privacy, despite Federal Trade Commission scrutiny >last year >>>>that encouraged many to limit how they sell services like looking up >Social >>>>Security numbers. >>>> >>>>Meanwhile, thousands of netizens are unknowingly making it easier >for >thieves >>>>to steal their identities by posting individual home pages, family >>>>genealogies, and r=E9sum=E9s. Sure, there's no harm in posting >photographs of >>>>Morris or Fido. And only the foolish post a Social Security number on >a Web >>>>site. But many pages are packed with the sort of details identity >thieves >>>>crave: full names, birth dates, birthplaces, addresses, occupations, >degrees, >>>>phone numbers. With the click of a mouse, a thief has a personal >dossier at >>>>his fingertips. >>>> >>>>Think about it. A name, birth date, and birthplace will get you a birt= h >>>>certificate, and a driver's license is not far behind. "The driver's >license, >>>>unfortunately, has become a de facto ID," says Beth Givens, director >of the >>>>Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. It's the key to all sorts o= f >>>>financial services, and it propels a thief closer to the magic number:= >the >>>>Social Security number. >>>> >>>>Mom's maiden name. Some family tree tracers place details like a >mother's >>>>maiden name online. That's often a common password for credit >cards and >bank >>>>accounts. Revealing such personal details, says Ed Howard, >executive >director >>>>of the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles, is "priva= cy >>>>suicide." >>>> >>>>As Howard points out, the Internet isn't a toy. Your home page may >have >hooked >>>>you up with a long-lost friend or relative, but it can also put you at >risk. >>>>Identity-theft victims suffer the aftermath of the criminal's spending >sprees > >>>>for years in the form of calls from collection agencies, ruined credit= , >even >>>>mistaken arrest. >>>> >>>>While the Internet is a wonderful tool for genealogists (it has >revolutionized >>>>family research), think again before jeopardizing the privacy of your >>>>relatives by putting intimate details up on the Web. "If a family >member is >>>>going to put up the genealogy, I think they should notify all the livi= ng >>>>members of that family tree," says Givens--who would prefer her >family >tree in >>>>book form. >>>> >>>>You'll never have complete control over your personal information, so >you'll >>>>never be immune to fraud. But why make it easy for someone to >impersonate you? >>>>If you wouldn't post your background on your local grocery store's >bulletin >>>board, don't put it on the Internet. "It's the world's bullet= in >board," >says >>>Carole Lane, author of Naked in Cyberspace: How to Find >Personal Information Online (Pemberton Press, 1997, $29.95). And con >artists are checking it out. > > >Clare L. Sallee County Coordinator for Rootsweb's Lowndes County, Mississippi > ICQ#192957 http://www.rootsweb.com/~mslownde > http://www.en.com/users/clareh > > MSGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~msgenweb/ Adams Co, MSGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~msadams/ SW MS Territory, MSGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~msswterr/ Concordia Parish, LAGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~laconcor/ For Old Times Sake: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~binkley/ General Nathan Bedford Forrest Chapter UDC Cicero, IN: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/1568 Adams Co, MS Mailing List: [email protected] PACK Family Mailing List: [email protected] --part0_908120713_boundary--