Don't worry so much about giving out such inconsequential details online ? But I do worry, and so, increasingly do many people. We're giving out information about ourselves all over the place online, and I'm much less than 100% confident that someone, somewhere won't use that information for something I'd rather they didn't. Tesco don't need a lot of information about me to sell me cat food. They don't even (technically speaking) need a credit card number that links them directly to me (allowing them to check credit history etc. etc.). Sooner or later someone will come out with a secure CC system that allows me to protect myself. Putting personal details out on the web gives them up - who knows what people will use them for. And there are plenty documented cases of 'blue chip' companies having their CC database hacked. I work as a web developer and a client recently (illegally) sent me a database of 300,000 emails and personal details to use as test data for a system. This data was given under the terms of the data protection act and ended up on my hard drive. There is no technical reason we can't have full online privacy (where we decide who gets what and when). Because of that, it will happen eventually, because people (not just paranoid geeks) understandably and justifiably want it.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't worry so much about giving out such inconsequential details online ? But I do worry, and so, increasingly do many people. We're giving out information about ourselves all over the place online, and I'm much less than 100% confident that someone, somewhere won't use that information for something I'd rather they didn't. Tesco don't need a lot of information about me to sell me cat food. They don't even (technically speaking) need a credit card number that links them directly to me (allowing them to check credit history etc. etc.). Sooner or later someone will come out with a secure CC system that allows me to protect myself. Putting personal details out on the web gives them up - who knows what people will use them for. And there are plenty documented cases of 'blue chip' companies having their CC database hacked. I work as a web developer and a client recently (illegally) sent me a database of 300,000 emails and personal details to use as test data for a system. This data was given under the terms of the data protection act and ended up on my hard drive. There is no technical reason we can't have full online privacy (where we decide who gets what and when). Because of that, it will happen eventually, because people (not just paranoid geeks) understandably and justifiably want it.