To Be Followed Or Not To Be Followed
That is the question. It's easy enough to choose if you wish to be followed on twitter but it's actually practically impossible to choose not to be followed by a myriad of other interested groups. Followed and robbed!
Credit card companies have been using software for ages to track your purchases and protect you. Or so they say. But thats not actually true - how can it be? Your credit card company assigns you a number that someone else uses to buy something. What does that have to do with you?
Nowadays however it's not only cash that can be stolen from you. In the digital age your identity has become a commodity that can apparently be stolen. Which is of course absurd.
'Identity Theft' is a great name because of the fear it can stir in our hearts. Who would I be without an identity? Just a number? Not even a number? Will I have to wait for Morpheus to find me and offer me a red or blue pill to find myself again?
Of course not, that would be dumb. Almost as dumb as the companies selling identity theft insurance (as I recently found out)...
But you may be surprised to discover how many systems are tracking you nowadays. Having your passport scanned at the airport is the tip of the iceberg. Your digital footprint is actually much larger than you might think.
CCTV cameras are capable of tracking people using facial recognition software and web browsers are of course still using cookies to follow you around the web.
But did you realise that your email provider may well have software reading your email to find out more about you?
Don't be fooled tracking you is big business. You are a much bigger target than your credit card company may have you think. Corporations are targeting you. They want to know as much as they can about you. Your habits, what you like, when you are vulnerable...
As a consumer you are a target.
I recently searched for property on the web and then found myself being directed to ads for property in the same area a couple of days later. I actually felt abused. Like I had been followed and spied upon.
I dont take issue with corporations helping me find products. But I do expect them to ask my permission before doing so.
Credit card companies have been using software for ages to track your purchases and protect you. Or so they say. But thats not actually true - how can it be? Your credit card company assigns you a number that someone else uses to buy something. What does that have to do with you?
Nowadays however it's not only cash that can be stolen from you. In the digital age your identity has become a commodity that can apparently be stolen. Which is of course absurd.
'Identity Theft' is a great name because of the fear it can stir in our hearts. Who would I be without an identity? Just a number? Not even a number? Will I have to wait for Morpheus to find me and offer me a red or blue pill to find myself again?
Of course not, that would be dumb. Almost as dumb as the companies selling identity theft insurance (as I recently found out)...
But you may be surprised to discover how many systems are tracking you nowadays. Having your passport scanned at the airport is the tip of the iceberg. Your digital footprint is actually much larger than you might think.
CCTV cameras are capable of tracking people using facial recognition software and web browsers are of course still using cookies to follow you around the web.
But did you realise that your email provider may well have software reading your email to find out more about you?
Don't be fooled tracking you is big business. You are a much bigger target than your credit card company may have you think. Corporations are targeting you. They want to know as much as they can about you. Your habits, what you like, when you are vulnerable...
As a consumer you are a target.
I recently searched for property on the web and then found myself being directed to ads for property in the same area a couple of days later. I actually felt abused. Like I had been followed and spied upon.
I dont take issue with corporations helping me find products. But I do expect them to ask my permission before doing so.
