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 other's identities, get credit in their names, then leave innocent 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 thru 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 have been inadvertantly left open in cyberspace. And some online outfits peddle sensitive information, without regard to privacy, despite Federal Trade Commission scrutiny last year that encourages many to limit how they sell services like looking up Social Security numbers. Meanwhile, thousands of netizens are unknowingly making it easier for the thieves to steal their identities by posting individual home pages, family genealogies, and resumes. 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 theives 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 birth place will get you a birth certificate, and a driver's license is not far behind. The drivers 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 of financial services, and it propels a thief closer to the magic number: the Social Security number. MOM"S MAIDEN NAME: Some family tree tracer's place details like a mother's maiden name online. That's often a common password for credit-cards and bank accounts. 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. While the internet is a wonderful tool for genealogists, think again before jeopardizing the privacy of your relatives. Okay..There is more...but this gives us an idea of what is being said and done...This info did cause me to go back and delete info from my online site..I would love to put all my genealogy online, but this article tells us basically..BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU REVEAL... Now, I don't have a clue if this stealing of identities is a common problem, I just found the article to be sensible...As much as I love genealogy, I wouldn't want some hacker to have my personal info..Made me realize I had too much info on the WEB..Just something to think about... Connie