Our personal information seems more at risk than ever, and it's often not our fault.
We shred credit-card offers and hunch over ATMs so no one spies our PIN number. Then we hear about a computer back-up tape for the state of Ohio being stolen from an intern's unlocked car. The thief got away with Social Security numbers or other sensitive information of nearly 860,000 state workers and taxpayers.
You can wait for businesses and government agencies to keep their promises to do better. But why wait? Instead, take control of your information, as much as it's possible. That means taking advantage of opportunities that exist now to opt out of having your information collected and possibly sold.
Of course, you can't stem the flow of all information about you. But you can control enough to make a difference.
You can stop annoying telemarketers from calling at dinnertime. Prevent credit bureaus from tipping off lenders that you're refinancing. Block schools from giving information about your children to marketers. Muzzle banks so they can't tell other companies about where you shop and your account balance.
Identity theft isn't the only reason to do this. Companies make big bucks selling details about you. And what do you get? Nettlesome sales calls when you're rushing off to work and a mailbox stuffed with unwanted solicitations.
You don't have to opt out of everything. Pick and choose. And even if you opt out now, you can always jump back in later.
"I just can't see any drawback from opting out," says Evan Hendricks, editor of the Privacy Times newsletter. You don't need a telemarketer or mailing to find out about products or services. You can do your own research, Hendricks says.
Where to start?
"We're asked all the time about this. People have this vague, kind of fuzzy idea of opting out," says Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum in California. The group recently compiled a list of the Top 10 Opt-Outs.
No. 1 is the National Do Not Call Registry that reduces phone calls from telemarketers. "This is the one opt-out that will have a noticeable difference on your life" if you're regularly bugged by calls, Dixon says.
You can stop prescreened offers for credit and insurance with an opt-out through the credit bureaus. This also will prevent credit bureaus from selling your contact information when you're shopping for a mortgage.
Many people simply tear up credit-card offers so they don't get into the wrong hands. But that may not be enough. Consider Rob Cockerham's experiment with a Chase MasterCard application last year.
The Californian tore the application into more than a dozen pieces and taped it back together - similar to what a thief going through garbage might do. He also changed the address to his parent's house, where he hasn't lived since 1991. He mailed in the mangled application and waited. Within a month, a new Chase card with a $5,000 limit appeared in his parents' mailbox. "They are not really watching. You have to watch yourself," Cockerham says. "I also learned that just ripping up the mail isn't good enough."
Chase Card Services says it conducts a special review when it gets a damaged application to determine its authenticity. "It is important to note that in this instance, an existing Chase customer applied with legitimate information - matching the information contained in our files - and was therefore given credit," wrote Jessica Iben, a Chase spokeswoman, in an e-mail.
Cockerham isn't taking any chances. He bought a shredder. But to stop solicitations from companies you don't do business with, opt out.
A credit freeze goes well beyond blocking prescreened offers.
With a freeze, lenders and other creditors can't peek at your credit report so new lines of credit are unlikely to be opened. Many states allow residents to freeze their reports. Maryland joins them in January.
If you're in the process of buying a car or house or establishing credit, don't freeze your credit report. If you're a victim of identity theft or just want to make sure no one opens an account in your name, request a freeze. You can always lift a freeze, too, usually for a fee.
Be aware, your bank may be sharing information about you for marketing purposes to an affiliate or unrelated company. It may tell them, say, where you shop, how much you borrow and the amount of your assets, Dixon says.
Each bank has its own rules on how you can limit information sharing, usually spelled out in the privacy policy, she says.
Marketers aren't just interested in you; they may also target your children. They can get certain information from schools without your consent, Dixon says.
Schools can release the names of students, home addresses and phone numbers, for example. "It's like an identity theft kit," Dixon says.
Limit access to this information by filling out a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) form at the school, Dixon says.
One person's junk mail is another's valued source of information. If you put catalogs and circulars from unfamiliar companies in that first category, contact the Direct Marketing Association to get off mailing lists.
"The Mail Preference Service removes you from prospecting lists," says Stephanie Hendricks, the association's spokeswoman. "It will significantly reduce the amount of mail you get. It's good for five years."
You can remove the name of deceased individuals, say, a spouse from mailing lists. Caregivers, too, can remove a person in their care from those lists. The association also offers an E-Mail Preference Service to opt out of commercial e-mail.
There are other ways to reduce unwanted e-mail or online ads.
Federal law requires commercial e-mail to include an opt-out, which usually appears on the bottom of the e-mail. "It only works for legitimate companies," Dixon says.
Through the Network Advertising Initiative, you can prevent about dozen companies from tracking your activity on the Web for advertising purposes. You'll still receive ads, but they won't be targeted based on your online activities.
For more on the Top 10 Opt-Outs and instructions on how to do them, visit www.worldprivacyforum.org.
To suggest a topic, contact Eileen Ambrose at 410-332-6984 or by e-mail at eileen.ambrose@baltsun.com
Opt-outs
You can take better control of your personal information as well as reduce sales pitches by using these opt-outs:
National Do Not Call Registry. Call 1-888-382-1222 or go online at www.donotcall.gov.
Opt out of offers for credit and insurance by calling 1-888-567-8688 or visiting www.optoutprescreen.com.
State-by-state guide to request a credit report freeze is available at www.financialprivacynow- .org. (Marylanders won't be able to make this request until next year.)
Reduce mail and e-mail by contacting the Direct Marketing Association at www.dmaconsumers.org. The fee is $1. The site also has instructions on removing the names of deceased individuals or those under a caregiver's watch.
The Network Advertising Initiative at www.networkadvertising.org allows you to limit tracking of your online activity for advertising purposes.