Slashdot Mirror
Cringely on Identity Theft
Boiled Frog writes "Prompted by the theft of his mail, Cringely investigates how easy it is to steal identities from government publications. In this article he explains how he got the identities of 300,000 people which he calculates to be valued at $65 billion dollars. If Cringely can do it, anyone can."
so keep it to yourself.
that old tune title (hope we don't get 'busted' for using it) "make the world go away", takes on new/varied meaning in these times.
the prevalent notion that 'everything will be taken care of' without yOUR knowledge/participation is insidiously misleading.
in our estimation, the biggest 'threat' against US (aside from continuing to fire bullinedly into the 'crowd', whilst demanding applause), would be a failure to recognize our 'role' in the problems. we're victims for sure, but whoare ALL the perpetrators (see also: corepirate nazi puppets), gets lost in the ?pr? ?firm? generated propaganda spew.
consult with/trust in yOUR creator. seek others of non-aggressive behaviours/intentions. that's the spirit.
the lights ARE coming up now. pay attention (to yOUR heart, for example). that could lead to new ways (see also: newclear power plan) of thinking about/dealing with, the needs/rights of others EVERYWHERE on the planet.
having the attention span of a gnat, & similar ambitions, might be ok if you are just planning to be a consumer/type one liners.
take care of each other, you're all we've got. we're here for you. get ready to see the light.--
worth reading, again, with feeling.
"It takes a long time to teach the judges, legislators, and public to understand technology. Right now, they're getting a strong dose of "education" on the Internet's threats and harms, and not hearing so much about its potential. Shouts of "piracy" often outweigh consideration of how we might communicate with more open media formats, but judges like Stephen Wilson in the Grokster case are starting to listen through the shouting. We're encouraging more people to think about how the law shapes technological innovation, how the technology itself can foster creativity, and then to do something about it to advance the public interest."--
"The stability of the large world house which is ours will involve a revolution of values to accompany the scientific and freedom revolutions engulfing the earth. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing"-oriented society to a "person"-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A civilization can flounder as readily in the face of moral and spiritual bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy."
hah suffer, i got first post, not u
aw fuck, i suppose i should go kill myself now.
rofl :)
bugger eh?
Say what you will about him, but almost anything of Cringelys that i've read turns out to be insightful and informative, and this article is no exception.
, in Portland, sells on-line. This place is 4 stories of a full city block. Down the street, the have a HUGE technical bookstore also. I've never actually purchased anything there, just read it in the coffee shop.
I like how 2 people modded this redundant, apparently without looking at the time stamps. Can it really be redundant if it's posted at the same time? Redundant is for posts that show an obvious lack of reading previous (not simultaneous) posts. At least that's what I read in the Mod FAQ before I started using my points.
:-)
This post, however, is clearly Offtopic
666-607: 6th floor apartment of the beast
i pray that it never happens to me...
What? Do you mean this?
That's funny, in Louisiana the Dead are all registered Democrats. Wonder what's so different about the Afterlife where you live that everyone would vote Republican. Maybe I should move to your state before I die if that means I get to hang out with a bunch of Conservatives once I kick the bucket. ;)
Sorry, just can't take an AC post seriously...
Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
Cringely got his 300,000 IDs from a publicly available government data source. He barely did any work to get them; all it took was some ingenuity to cross-reference two separate sources.
This is why centralization of data is bad. The convenience isn't worth it when the consequences are destroyed livlihoods or, at least, seven days stolen from a person's life (175 man-hours average to resolve identity theft).
So, why are so many people begging for things like social security in the first place? Nationalized health care? Federal income tax? TIA? The percieved benefit of these things is superficial, when much deeper and more dangerous rifts are just waiting to surface.
A person's identity has many more dimensions than simply address, SSN, and mother's maiden name, but government complacency has filtered into nearly every aspect of our lives and our businesees to create a timebomb of terrible proportions.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
No, it hasn't. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. We've got the history books, newsreels and photographs that prove it. I've alerted Minitrue to your identity and whereabouts. Remain where you are.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
I rarely buy anything with checks. But when I do, I get a little bit peeved. I wish those clerks wouldn't just wave my check around for anyone to see. I wish they'd treat it like it has confidential information, because it DOES! My bank routing number, by account number, my name, address, telephone number.
You'd think someone would train these register monkeys that they're holding a sensitive document in their hand, instead of proudly displaying it for anyone who wants my personal account information.
See this slashdot post. For those of you too lazy to click, let it me known that the SSN is issued by the United States Treasury, there hasn't been an actual United States Treasury since 1921 due to bankruptcy, the United States has has a treaty with the United States (GATT) that violates the Common Law of voluntary will of mankind, the International Monetary Fund is created by the United Nations, the Internationa Monetary Fund is in control of the United States Treasury, and...Sosial Security is not Insurance and is not identification. Nobody can match that run-on sentance, or my name is /dev/null